Mangy Puppy Dodges Euthanasia, Travels to Austin, Loves Cheese

Raymondville, Texas, is a flat town surrounded by cornfields about 50 miles north of the border with Mexico. It has one H-E-B, one high school, and one animal shelter.

Before Austin Pets Alive! partnered with the Raymondville Animal Shelter, most animals there were euthanized or died naturally. Only 46% were saved, according to Luis Sanchez, a spokesperson for Austin Pets Alive! The small-town shelter still has low capacity and a lot of strays on their hands, so to avoid killing pets, the shelter sends about 20 animals per month through Austin Pets Alive!’s Transport Hub to rescue groups across the country. Their save rate is now at 94%, Sanchez said.

Fishy – full name Rainbow Fish – was a little guy in trouble, though. The mangy puppy arrived at the Raymondville shelter with swollen eyelids, missing hair, and an overall crusty appearance, as photos show. He couldn’t get health-certified for travel due to his skin condition, and he was at risk of euthanasia due to limited space, Sanchez said.

“Our priority and heart are here in Austin,” Sanchez said. “But when animals outside city limits are at risk of death and no one else is coming, we step up.”

So Fishy didn’t go cross-country, but moved from the southernmost tip of Texas to Austin, where Austin Pets Alive! is covering the costs of his antibiotics, medicated baths, antihistamines, and antifungals. A foster parent has taken him in. As his skin heals, he’s playing with a pit bull foster brother named Smalls.

Austin Pets Alive! says he’s ready for adoption. He’s a cheese-motivated learner and cries when he’s alone, the nonprofit reports. Though it’s unusual to take in pets from out of town, Austin Pets Alive! partners with more than two dozen underresourced shelters in Texas like the Raymondville Animal Shelter, and they’re prepared for more mangy puppies in the future. “Pets like Fishy are a testament to what we do and why we do it,” Sanchez said.