Today his name is Ozzy, but when he was first rescued his name was Colgan. His story begins in New York City in early 2012. Abandoned, locked in a crate, without food and water, laying in his own waste, Colgan was first rescued by Animal Control. Emaciated, covered with sores, this Cane Corso/Pit Mix was missing hair all over his body, but especially his tail which was completely bald.
Sadly, Colgan was scheduled to be euthanized. He was then saved for a second time by Cane Corso Rescue. He was transported to Southern New Jersey to recuperate in foster care, but Colgan was not about to go back to staying in a crate. On his first night Colgan tore up his face, but he made it through the metal bars of his crate. Knowing that he could not stay in foster care, Cane Corso Rescue reached out to the Voorhees Animal Orphanage (AO). The call came to the shelter’s director late one February night...could the shelter accept this dog? The answer was yes, and Colgan was saved for a third time. But how would this dog that could not be crated handle a kennel? Sleeping in shifts, volunteers from Cane Corso Rescue and the AO waited to see if Colgan would finally relax. Fortunately, he did.
Colgan’s emotional wounds began to heal, but his tail remained raw.
Colgan was adopted by the shelter’s president and his wife and joined their pack of four other dogs. Renamed Ozzy, he started training to be a therapy dog. He was a natural.
Today, Ozzy does pet assisted therapy with disabled adults and he represents the AO at schools as part of its humane education program. And his tail is completely healed and never stops wagging, but his tale is far from over.
Voorhees, NJ
