our pets: SAVING WATERSHED DICKENS
Special Delivery
Watershed Dickens works his way
into a happy, permanent home
SEPTEMBER 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
BY EMMA MOORMAN
When Monica Knesek found Dickens she
didn’t quite know what to think.
What do you do with an injured
stray dog that shows up on your porch?
Watershed Dickens had followed the
mailman to the Kneseks’ family home in
September of 2012. Unable to turn the poor
animal away, Knesek brought him water to
keep him cool in the scorching late summer
heat and food to fill his empty stomach. She
then sent the little dog away hoping that if
he did live in the neighborhood he would
find his way home. Imagine her surprise
when she opened the door the next morning and was greeted by the smiling face of
Mr. Watershed Dickens, yet again. After his
reappearance Knesek said she, “took his
picture and put it all over the neighborhood
trying to see if he belonged to anybody.”
When nobody claimed him, the Knesek
family brought him in and gave him the
love and kindness that his previous owners
had failed to provide.
“I figured he must have been dumped,”
said Knesek. Unfortunately, the dumping of
puppies is quite common in rural neighborhoods. People take a litter of puppies or a
dog they no longer want out to the countryside; because they couldn’t take care of
them or just didn’t want them anymore, and
they, “set them free.”
Sometimes these dogs are shot by farmers who feel their livestock is being threatened, hit by cars, fall prey to coyotes or they
ultimately starve to death because of their
lack of survival instincts.
Watershed Dickens was one of the lucky
ones. When he found his forever home he
58
Monica Knesek with Watershed Dickens