Neglected, pregnant and mostly left to fend for herself, Mocha has already proven herself a survivor.
The only thing left is to find her a home.
The 5-year-old Shihtzu mix was taken into St. Charles Animal Shelter in February after her previous owner was charged with animal cruelty, according to St. Charles Parish Animal Control Supervisor Jena Troxler. Mocha’s hair was “matted to the core,” Troxler noted, and was usually left to run the streets by herself.
“A few of the people in the neighborhood saw her out a lot,” said Paige Rochelle of the animal shelter. “She was always out a night. (The owner) stuck her out there when she was in heat and didn’t want to deal with her. After a few warnings, we ended up seizing her.”
Rochelle said Mocha was unusually thin and clearly needed nourishment.
“She was stuck outside a lot, no food, no water,” Rochelle said. “When we’d come down the street, (Mocha’s owner) would pull her inside. That’s when we had to come with police. She was all nasty, matted … (and had) a lot of fleas from living outside.”
Troxler noted that Mocha was nervous and uneasy at first in the shelter. Then the dog grew, and did so quickly. Her appearance at the time also disguised a rather pertinent fact about the canine — she was pregnant. Soon after the shelter took Mocha in, she gave birth to seven puppies.
“She ended up having seven of the cutest little pups,” said the shelter’s Pam Talley, who took care of the puppies. “She was so matted that we didn’t know she was pregnant at first.
We adopted them all out, but (Mocha) still needs a home.”Added Troxler, “She nursed and protected those pups like a champ.”
Talley said that the kind of neglect Mocha received is something that surfaces here and there locally, but that it usually happens with larger dogs.
“There’s been a few (cases) of it throughout the parish,” Talley said. “Usually people take care of the smaller dogs, though. It’s the bigger dogs they throw out.”
Though she’s been through a lot, Mocha’s personality doesn’t let on to that history.
“She’s got a funny little personality,” Talley said. “She’s confident, a real confident little dog. And she’s independent. She’s cute … she walks around this place like she owns it.”
Added Rochelle, “She really does. She’s just the smallest thing but she doesn’t act like it. She’s really got a lot of personality.”
Troxler said Mocha’s puppies have all been adopted into loving homes, as well as spayed and neutered “so they don’t contribute to the same overpopulation issue that gets animals here in the first place.” Mocha herself has also been spayed and had all her health care updated within the past three weeks.
Troxler said that a home without children would likely be the ideal fit for Mocha, and that while the dog is enjoying post-rescue life, she’s ready to move on to the next stage of her life.
“She doesn’t mind the shelter as much now, but would love to pack her belongings and move out,” Troxler said. “She needs a loving home.”
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