On a short one-day trip to visit her parents in Tx., Liliana Danel didn’t expect to have to use her animal advocacy skills. But while driving with her parents to visit other family members in Mexico, she noticed a stray dog in a vacant lot.
Liliana made her father turn the car around.
The dog was a Pit Bull mix. When he saw Liliana get out of the car, he ran behind a tree. Liliana followed him. Behind the tree, she saw his “home.” It was a torn, moldy mattress.
Liliana decided not to leave.
Every time the dog would run, she would follow him. She tried to offer him some of her granola bar, but he wouldn’t come closer. Liliana sent her father to the nearest store to buy a leash.
She did not fear that the dog would bite. She’d been in this situation many times before and realized the dog would not hurt her.
When the dog stopped running and rested next to a bale of hay, Liliana got a better look at him. He seemed to be a healthy weight, but had a bad skin condition. Even from a distance she could tell he was full of fleas.
She resolved to get help for the pup before she left. So while her father went to buy a leash, Liliana called animal control.
Eventually the dog let her get closer, then closer again. He began showing her his belly, a good sign.
Then animal control arrived. The big loud truck once again scared the pup. Animal control gave Liliana the leash and asked if she could “grab him.” In the meantime, animal control chased the dog through a field using their truck, but after a while, they gave up. Animal control said they would come back another time and would call to advise once they caught the dog.
They never called. In a phone call to Pharr AC on Feb. 28, they could not provide information if he was picked up or not. They did advise, however, that if he was brought in, he would have been taken to the Palm Valley Animal Center in Edinburg, Tx. and would show up on their website. At the time of this writing, he is not there.
So the Pit Bull mix may still be living on his dirty mattress behind the tree. There is a lot of vehicle traffic in the area, so his safety is a big concern.
This is an urgent plea to help the “mattress dog”. If there is anyone in the Pharr, Tx. area that can check on and help him, he was seen on Feb. 22 in the empty lot on South Jackson Street at the corner of Old Ridge Road.
If he is caught and no one claims him, he will also need rescued or adopted.
Please watch the video below for more information. Like it says in the video:
Is there a kind soul that can help him?
The Mansfield Animal Advocacy Examiner will update this story with any news. If anyone has information on the dog, please contact this writer at joyce.fields.OH@aol.com.
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