There have been two dogs abandoned in Baltimore's Patterson Park in just 6 months, and both were rescued by the same neighbor. After Sunday morning's rescue, she is calling for change.
"I saw the post someone saying they found the dog and I’m like here we go again," Stephanie Dagenhart said.
She's talking about a post on the Patterson Park Neighbors Facebook page that said a dog was left tied to a bench at the playground. Dagenhart, who just lives a few blocks away, jumped in her car to help and found a 2-year-old mixed breed dog without any tags.
"She was super friendly, super sweet. She let me pet her face and everything," Dagenhart said. "I was able to untie her leash right away and just start walking her to her car as if it was normal."
Dagenhart took her straight to BARCS, where she named her after the late designed Kate Spade. A rescue dog mom herself, she says it's extremely frustrating.
"You never who is going to pick up the other end of the leash. You never know if someone wants to use that dog for a purpose that isn’t good," Dagenhart said.
This is also the second time Dagenhart has experienced something like this in 2018.
"For this to happen twice in a 6-month period is totally ridiculous," Dagenhart said. "It’s just nonsensical. There’s too many other options for humane ways to re-home your pet or give up your pet that aren’t being used."
In January, she found a dog tied to a tree in the park and called animal control to have him taken to a shelter.
"It was like 17 degrees and the whole neighborhood was in arms, just angry and pissed off about what was going on and that someone would think that was an option to just leave your dog," Dagenhart said.
She wants to make sure people are educated about the proper ways to get a dog a new home if necessary.
"You can call 3-1-1 to get them you pick up your dog if you want your dog re-homed. BARCS is an open intake facility. They will not deny you for any reason if you need to give up your dog," Dagenhart said.
Duke, the dog rescued in January, was adopted, and Dagenhart know Kate will have a happy ending too.
"She was just really sweet and so adorable," Dagenhart said. "When the woman that did the intake came to take her, she jumped up onto my lap and I was just like she's gonna make someone really happy."
Kate has a 72-hour stray hold at BARCS until she can be adopted. She wants to start a charity walk to raise money for BARCS, who took in both dogs.
