Ron Wilkins

Journal & Courier

Crews repossessing a sports utility vehicle last Friday likely saved a pit bull terrier's life.

“Superior Auto here in town went to repo the vehicle, and on their way back to their dealership, they heard something in the back, and that’s when they discovered this dog was in a crate," said Jim Tate, director of the Clinton County Humane Society.

They don't know how long the dog had lived in the crate inside a cold SUV, but the bottom of the crate was filled with urine, diarrhea and loose fecal matter, according to photos Tate shared with the Journal & Courier.

“If you’d seen the vehicle, it was nasty throughout,” Tate said.

Once the repossession team members realized there was a dog in the back, they stopped the car.

“They got him out," said Ben Pfeffer, treasurer of Paw Pals of Clinton County, which pays for treatment of neglected animals that arrive at the shelter. "The Superior people were really good about it. They called right away. In fact, they went over to Marsh and got some dog food for him. He ate.”

And ate and ate and ate, Tate said. Then the dog, who's been named Repo, spent the first three days at the shelter lapping up water as if it was the first time he'd ever had a drink.

"We don't know how long he'd been in there," Tate said. "The dog is pretty emaciated."

Repo is a friendly pooch, greeting strangers with mild-mannered curiosity.

“He just sat there, and he was about the happiest dog in the entire world that he got away from that whole situation," Pfeffer said of Repo's ride to the shelter. “He got out of the van and walked in here like he just lived here.”

Tate said, “The sad thing is he doesn’t know how to play.”

“He just wants somebody to pet him and get up in Jim’s lap,” Pfeffer said as Repo nuzzled against Tate.

Repo's owners, however, might have more problems.

Tate is preparing paperwork that he will send to the prosecutor's office next week asking for criminal charges to be filed against them.

“We’ve been in contact with the owners. They knew what was going on," Tate said. “They told me he was in there just overnight because they had a family emergency.”

But Tate and Pfeffer doubt that since the owners were not allowed to have dogs in their house.

The good news for Repo is that Pfeffer's organization, Paw Pals, will pay for his medial treatments — deworming, checkup and neutering — then Repo will head out to his new home when the legalities are cleared up.

One of the men from the repossession team called dibs on Repo, Tate said, so his days of living in a crate in the back of an unheated vehicle are over.

Adopt an animal

Anyone looking to rescue a different dog or cat from the Clinton County Humane Society may visit the shelter any day except Wednesday or Sunday. They also can search on petfinder.com.