Rudy takes time out from his physical at Watson's Animal Clinic to pose with his new owners Connie Bass and Laura Cahoon. He was adopted from the Greenville Animal Shelter on Monday after more than a month of residence. There are a variety of animals up for adoption at the shelter for a small fee.

Photo by Derek Brown

Rusty was given less than a week to live. After more than a month at the Greenville Animal Shelter, he was scheduled to be put to sleep this week. A picture in the newspaper and the soft hearts of two area dog lovers, however, were enough to give Rusty, now called Rudy by his two new owners, a new home and a new lease on life.

Twice over the past month, the animal nicknamed Rusty by The Advocate staff, was featured as Pet of the Week on the front page of The Greenville Advocate. But, when Connie Bass and Laura Cahoon saw his picture on Saturday, Dec. 11, they said they knew he would make a great addition to their family.

"We saw his picture in the paper and thought he was beautiful," Bass said on Monday while having her Rudy checked out at Watson's Animal Clinic. "And, when we read that he was going to be put to sleep soon we had to go check him out," she added.

Bass said she had not seen the earlier Pet of the Week feature on the red-toned Doberman pinscher up for adoption, because she had only recently subscribed to The Advocate. In fact, Bass said the Saturday, Dec. 11 issue was the first she had received since purchasing her subscription earlier this month.

Bass and Cahoon are roommates who share a house on County Road 43 just outside of Greenville. Both work for L.V. Stabler Memorial Hospital. The five acres of property surrounding their house already made a great home for two dogs and five cats, and Bass said there was plenty of room for one more. She was the first to go see Rudy.

"When I saw him he was so sweet," Bass said. "I couldn't believe someone would just throw him out. He was just precious. When Allen (Ingram) took him outside to show him to me, he came right to me."

Cahoon went to visit Rudy after finishing her shift at the hospital, and she said her first encounter was all it took.

"I just fell in love with him," she said. "I just knew we had to have him."

The pair paid Rudy's adoption fee and took him to Watson's Animal Clinic for a check-up. While he is fairly healthy considering the hard times he's fallen on lately, there are health concerns that could be life-threatening without treatment.

"He has heartworm," Bass said. "So, we're going to have to get him treatment for that. But otherwise he is fine."

She said that Rudy will have to be neutered before he settles in permanently at his new home, but that may have to wait for a little while at least.

"All of our animals have been spayed or nuetered," Bass said. "But we are going to wait with Rudy to see how he deals with the heartworm treatments."

The veterinarian is estimating that Rudy is about five years old, and is in generally good health with the exception of the heartworm problem. Rudy will share a quarter-acre pen with a Weimariner named Leasa and a Pit Bull Terrier named Amos that Bass says "came with the house."

She said Rudy seems to be taking it all in stride. He is a little timid, which Bass says is understandable considering all he has been through, but, she says once he gets settled in his new home he will get all the love and attention a good dog needs.

"I think it will take about a week before he is totally spoiled rotten," Bass said.