" Noel"
as told by Mila Rizzo

Noel, the noble creature, man’s best friend, was found on December 17, 2000 in Jefferson, NH. Discovered by a couple after they heard continuous barking for several hours, was a black dog, who had fallen into a hole that was about three and a half feet deep and covered with boards. The weather was brutally cold that day with below freezing temperatures (zero that night), high wind and heavy rain. The hole the dog was in, had already filled with six to eight inches of frozen water. Apparently the dog was desperately seeking shelter when it fell into the hole and could not get out. The couple pulled the poor helpless animal out and carried it home.

They covered the dog with blankets and hoped for the best, as the dog appeared to be in shock and looked severely emaciated. Later, as the dog began to come around, they tried to offer it some food, then contacted the Lancaster Humane Society, and the long journey to recovery began.

Our helper picked up the dog and brought it to our shelter. Without a word, her eyes filled with tears, Laura opened the door to her SUV, and there was man’s best friend; lying down, unable to stand, with a two foot chain hanging from it’s collar, severely matted fur, skeletal, looking straight ahead (afraid to make eye contact) with a blank sad expression. It was a miracle this dog was still alive! We soon discovered it’s condition was not even stable enough to have the hair cut off. We could not tell the sex of the dog, but we called it Noel with a feeling it was a female. Noel looked to be a medium-sized dog with long hair, a mix of Setter, Afghan and Border Collie. It was becoming evident this dog had endured many years of neglect and suffering and it was hard to guess her age due to her extremely poor condition. With her eyesight and hearing almost gone, we guess her age to be about 8 years old.

After a few days, we had her hair cut off, which was matted hard like a rock! It took many hours to accomplish. We discovered Noel was a girl, but were not prepared to see the horrible condition of her body without hair. She was just a rack of bones. All of her muscles were atrophied to the point where she could not sit or walk, just stand or lie down. Noel appeared to be destroyed not only physically but psychologically. She had no idea how to respond to human kindness, but she had a strong will to live! On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst, Noel was definitely a ten. We have seen a lot of animals in bad shape, but Noel was definitely the worst.

Noel had to spend two days on IV’s at two veterinarian hospitals where she was treated for malnutrition, dehydration, whip worm and exposure. After that, Noel was placed in foster care for several weeks, and then recently came back to us. We made Noel room in our office, where she now lives. We put her on natural food, yogurt and different vitamins to build her up. And of course, she gets a lot of love. This includes us lying down on the blanket with her every day and holding her close, and she seems to respond to it. Noel still has a long journey ahead of her.

We noticed things about Noel that told us something about her history, such as not knowing how to accept positive human attention. She also did not know how to drink water from a bowl, and is afraid of sudden movements. But she is able to hear a little better now, she enjoys walking and walks for longer and longer periods of time inside our shelter. We noticed that Noel has a strong will to live! Recently, Noel walked up to me, sat down for the first time and set her head in my lap. It was the best gift I could have asked for!

It is a tragedy that Noel had to endure so much suffering in her life, but the only thing worse would be for her to die and never know human kindness or love. Because Mila Rizzo refuses to give up on these animals they have a chance for life at the no-kill Lancaster shelter. Please help. Lancaster Humane Society has incurred some large expenses to bring Noel back and donations are needed to help meet these costs. Many shelters would not rehabilitate such an animal but would euthanize it. The shelter can use monetary donations as well as items. A list is available, but Mila asks that you please call first to check on what is needed as the high cost of dumping makes it too expensive to accept items they cannot use. Please call 603-788-4500 or log on to www.lhsnokill.org. The state licensed and accredited Lancaster Humane Society is open Tuesday thru Saturday and resides at 62 Martin Meadow Pond Road, Lancaster, NH.

Noel recovered physically but will always
bear the emotional scars of her ordeal.

 

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