Roscoe and Angel: Who Rescued Who?
Roscoe and Angel: Who Rescued Who?
Danielle Hofstetter and Nathan Smeltzer adopted Roscoe when he was about 12 weeks old. The shelter had no idea what kind of dog he was (beagle/boston terrier mix?), all they knew was that he came from a kill shelter in Georgia. His mother had already been euthanized by the time volunteers showed up. Roscoe and his 2 litter mates were lucky to make it out. From the moment they brought Roscoe home he had very bad anxiety. He was terrified of small children, loud noises and being alone. His separation anxiety was by far the worst. When they would leave him alone for any period of time he would drool uncontrollably and claw his way out of crates. His anxiety was so bad it caused him to have seizures. After about a year of anti-anxiety meds and working with him, their vet recommended they try getting him a companion.
Danielle and Nathan looked into fostering another dog and ultimately decided on fostering a pit bull because Danielle worked with dogs for many years. She found Angel on petfinder. Angel had a much darker past than Roscoe. She came from a high kill shelter in Indiana and her background was mostly unknown, all the shelter knew was she was about 2 years old, seized from a fighting ring and most likely used as a breeding dog or to get the males territorial and ready to fight. When they found her she was extremely underweight, had numerous broken teeth (most likely from being hit), and was covered from head to toe in some kind of chemical burn. Danielle fell in love with her picture and immediately started the process of fostering her. They ended up adopting her officially a few months later and she ended up being the perfect fit for Roscoe. His anxiety has improved so much over the past 6 years.
As long as he has her with him he doesn't freak out when he's alone, he's not afraid of loud noises, he's been 5 years seizure free and he doesn't need anti-anxiety meds anymore. The love they have for each other and people is astounding, especially Angel. She bounced back from such a horrible start to her life and she has more love to give then she knows what to do with! Rescuing Angel saved her life as well as helping Roscoe. Without the rescue, who knows what Angels fate would be and what's Roscoe’s health would be at. Rescuing saves lives!
Pictures by Danielle Hofstetter and Nathan Smeltzer