I just don't get people sometimes . . .

[Jim Poor]

This is Murphy. She's almost 12 years old and lived with her former family for 11.5 years.

They moved into a town home and decided that Murphy didn't like the stairs so they gave her up.

The rescue group that took her in from the shelter really doesn't believe the stairs were an issue as Murphy is very young for her age and has plenty of energy for stairs and anything else you can think of.

The thing I REALLY don't get is that if the family were so concerned about Murphy, I think they would have taken the time to make better arrangements for her rather than just drop her off at a kill shelter where they had to know that she would be put down in a matter of days if not hours. Thankfully, she has been rescued and is in a foster home at the moment.

My wife and I have meet Murphy twice now while out doing photos for her and others like her and we are teetering dangerously on the brink of making her our 5th dog.


Photographically speaking, I think I over-sharpened her snoot a little trying to make up for shallow DoF in this image. . .

[Rocky Sharwell]

Jim:

I like the image---the eyes are sharp--I think the shallow depth of field works well.

The former owners on the other hand strike me as being really selfish and I get mad just thinking about it...

[Axel Hildebrandt]

The shallow DOF actually makes this really interesting and how people can just 'discard' a dog they have been living with for many years is beyond me.

[Susan Griffith]

Murphy is just adorable.

-Susan

[Sid Overbey]

Great shot Jim. Sometimes people can be real @#@!Q. My wife and I have four dogs right now, 3 of which are rescues. Two years ago we took in a 12 year old Norwich terrier because his family wanted new carpet and he might mess it up and it was time for him to go. He has become one of the joys of our life.

Sid

[Steve Metildi]

Great shot of a very cool dog. I vote for dog number 5.

Steve

[Alfred Forns]

Murphy looks like a puppy !!!! The former owners should be put to sleep !!!! Maybe Murphy will luck out and find a deserving home !!!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

These kind of stories break my heart Jim Being the daughter of a veterinarian I have seen a lot of sad cases in my life. I do know how people become so with out feeling and just when and how do they lose their compassion. Glad to see how much you care Jim and I will pray that she finds a wonderful home soon soon. Keep us undated please !!!

[Gus Cobos]

Great looking dog Jim...He looks like a keeper to me. Make him #5...:eek:

[Grace Scalzo]

I'm afraid with the faltering economy that we may be hearing more stories like this in the near future. I had a gsd rescue, perfectly trained, wonderful dog, who was dumped at a kill shelter. Who would go to that level, then dump him....and you know, he acted like he remembered something about his past till the day he died. A loyal, wonderful dog was my Rusty. So, is he #5????

[Jim Poor]

Murphy has moved from a kennel to a foster home, but is still looking for her forever home. My wife and I really are close to making her #5. I figure one more trip to take photos at an event where Murphy is present will do the trick.

Its tough, as Sam (our Corgi) introduced here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ead.php?t=2314 is getting worse. He has almost completely lost the use of his front legs now.

Sam requires a lot of work and adding #5 would be a big step. Still, we're thinking about it. It is sad to say, but since Murphy is 12 years old, her odds of being adopted by anyone else are pretty low.

[LouBuonomo]

This is heartbreaking... I am such a dog person, our Westie is 16 1/2 and we lost his litter mate at 15 1/2. How someone can do this is just beyond me.

Go for #5 Jim, you will be rewarded with Love and good karma

Lou

[Jim Poor]

I got this e-mail when I asked about her:

The good news is that Murphy is happy in her foster home. The bad news is we very recently learned she is in end stage renal failure. Her current foster will continue to love and care for her and we will continue to do all we can for both of them (financially, emotionally, etc...) but Murphy's time with us will be short.

It might seem selfish of us but we would rather continue to care for a dog like this then place him/her for adoption knowing the burdens a new home will face so soon after adopting.

We have all come to love Murphy immensely and could not bare the idea of not being able to spend time with her if she was adopted. I know it must sound odd, but in her current foster home Murphy is loved, very well cared for and by staying in this foster, we who know them both can still have visiting rights! In this group we share the tears of joy as well as the tears of pain and loss....

I hope this helps to clear up the mystery~

[Jim Poor]

Just thought I'd update this.

Through a twist of fate, Murphy / Missy came to live with us after all. Here we are two years later and she's still around. She's had her ups and downs, but has done really well for the most part.

Lately, her health has been declining again which had me looking at old posts about her today.

[Alfred Forns]

Thanks for the update Jim Keep pulling for her !!

[Amy DeStefanis]

Hi Jim,

I haven't been on BPN for a while, but looked your posts up because I know you photograph dogs, and since we've rescued a couple of them in the past couple of years, I've been taking more and more dog photos - and might start doing Agility photos, etc....

What a beautiful girl Murphy is! I couldn't imagine just dropping off one of my "children"... One of ours is having some emotional issues after losing our first dog (his buddy) in a freak accident. He's actually on Prozac - and doing better - but through his anxiety and over-protectiveness, he has nipped a few backsides.... (hence the Prozac)

I posted their Christmas pictures on the Friends and Family forum.... :)

Amy