So Jude went to his new home. His ears were chopped off with rusty knife. He cried himself to sleep that night. Still he did not know the terror that awaited him. Such a little boy, he was tied up and duck taped around his mouth and thrown into a ring. Night after night he was tortured by his captors. The big dogs bit at this legs, throat and pulled at his scabbed up ears. When the terror ended each night, Jude would cry himself to sleep. He was so sad and alone. Weeks turned into months and still the terror continued. One night he escaped. He ran free in the streets but he was so scared the bad people would find him. He was no longer being hurt and abused, but now he was hungry. He walked for days. He found garbage cans sitting on curbs and discovered they sometimes contained some food.
After a month of living on the streets, some people called animal control and reported that he was getting into their garbage, so a man found him there. The man spoke softly but Jude was so afraid. Life had been so hard for him and he trusted no one, but the man caught him and put him in a truck. The next thing Jude knew, he was locked up in a cage in a high kill shelter full of loud barking dogs. He was fed, which was nice and there was a nice lady who seemed to care. She told him she wanted to take his photo and try to help him find a rescue to save him, but he was sad and scared. Jude with his cut off ears and scars was a sad boy looking down at the floor and not happy or wagging his tail for visitors. So he sat waiting. He grew sadder in the cage. He was a small seven month old pup who had seen more pain than any dog should ever know. He still cried himself to sleep.
Day after day, the people at the shelter fed Jude. They spoke to him nicely but still no one came to take him home. He no longer remembered his mom and the fun he had playing with the kids at her home. He only remembered the pain that life had brought him.
Then one day two men came to him. The man who put him into the truck and drove him to this cage, said to him "It's ok boy, you will feel no more pain". The man held him in his arms as they put a shot into his leg. Then the world around him faded away and Jude's life came to an end.
Jude was a real dog, real pain, real scars and real cuff off ears. The facts may not be all correct, but dogs like Jude find the same fate in shelters in Tennessee ever year. I see too many Judes. If you know anyone whose dog has puppies and they want to give them away. Tell them about Jude.
"Hey Jude don't complain take a sad song and make it better
and remember to let her into your heart
then you can start to make it better. "
