A Rescue Me Georgia Success story
By Kavita Chhibber
Brophie, a Westie terrier mix, was rescued when a drug bust in Butts County took place early 2021. (Butts County is home to one of the most notorious prisons in Georgia.) As the agents zeroed in on the drug dealers with guns, they found a group of dogs – unneutered males in one cage and females that were not spayed in another cage. All were living in terrible conditions. There were over 20 of them there.
They were thrown scraps of food that they had to fight over and hosed down with water if they acted up. That meant sitting on cold, soggy cushions in freezing winter temperatures. That is how they were found on a cold January morning.
The parent dogs of these puppies were exhausted. They had been continuously used for breeding and some in- breeding had also happened.
But that is how the state of Georgia is. Dogs are bred incessantly, and puppies sold for 20 dollars in parking lots by drug users or poor people just to make a fast buck. There are dog fighting groups that force dogs to spar with one another. Gambling money is thrown in… or sometimes it’s just done for sadistic pleasure. Earlier it was the pit bulls. Now I hear it is the German Shepherd breed that is being overbred and thrown into dog fighting rings.
Brophie and his siblings were used mostly as guard dogs to warn the drug dealers If anyone approached their run-down mobile home. So the State of Georgia failed both human beings and animals as a society. No one is born and decides to become a drug dealer. But when you do it also desensitizes you to compassion or kindness.
When the agents called Animal Control, they came in and realized they would not be able to have the room for so many dogs. As always, it was Rescue Me Georgia (the stellar rescue organization headed by Marybeth Rathbun) who was called to step in.
Brophie’s father 
Brophie’s mother 
Horrible living conditions
The dogs had experienced horrible abuse and neglect. Brophie was the runt of the litter so he was constantly attacked by his older siblings in the male cage. Every dog fought for scraps and for survival.
The drug dealers faced prosecution but still refused to give up the parents. They declined Rescue Me Georgia’s request to let them neuter and spay the parents and returned to them.
What was even stranger was that the Animal Control officers let them keep the two parent dogs.
A veterinarian with mobile services had to be called in for neutering and spaying the dogs. Brophie’s neutering did not go as well. He was also a biter. Brophie was so traumatized by being attacked that he bit every dog that came within range at Marybeth’s home. He is still very uncomfortable around new dogs and people that he does not know. He has a particular dislike for men and children. We noticed that he starts screaming and shaking when a man in a jacket with a hood approaches, or when there are children playing in the park. It has been over four weeks that we have head him and finally he is getting better about men approaching us on walks. He can move on without a reaction at our command, but he still gets upset 20 percent of the time.
Saved by Rescue Me Georgia 
Mobile vets on the scene! 
Brophie is cleaned and treated.
He is also afraid of dogs that were not neutered. He was attacked both at Marybeth’s home and at a foster parent’s home by other small dogs. It seemed almost like he let out a vibe that prompted other dogs to attack him.
Attacked by other dogs post-rescue. 
Peri-orbital injuries after attacks. 
Recovering in his crate.
All his siblings were quickly adopted, but something stopped Marybeth from allowing Brophie’s adoption. Everyone wanted Brophie because he was so handsome with a striking personality.
But underneath that devilish charm is a very sensitive dog who runs for cover at a slightly raised voice. I once found him trembling in his crate trying to become invisible because an obnoxious child had entered and was creating a racket at Marybeth’s home. He ran away from another perfectly kind child and hid underneath one of the sofas.
Ajit and I had lost our beloved German Shepherd Ramses in December 2019 and had decided we were not going to be adopting again.
Then in August 2021 I was visiting Marybeth, when this streak of white lightning whizzed into the room and landed near me. He whirled around like a ballet dancer and showed me so much love, which was unlike his character… especially around strangers. I saw Marybeth and Adrienne look very surprised and they both said, “He has never done this before.”
Brophie would not leave me alone. Every time I visited, he was right there demanding attention and flying into my lap. He would hide behind me whenever Marybeth told him it was time to go in so I could spend time with other dogs there.
Ajit and I had always said if we ever thought of adopting it would be another German Shepherd. But God had different plans.
In all the months that I got to know him, I still was not sure I was going to adopt Brophie or any other dog. But Brophie just fell in love with me and wore his heart on his furry sleeve.
I was fortunate then and I continue to be fortunate enough now to be the recipient of his single-minded persistence to win me over, his deep love and loyalty. He won me over with his incredible charm and cheerfulness… and his stubborn refusal to take no for an answer.
Ajit cracked up laughing the other day when Brophie was all over me lavishing affection with lots of kisses and licks and saw Ajit. He looked at him, then condescendingly gave him a reluctant half lick. It was like, “I guess I’ve got to tolerate you as well off and on.”
At Rescue Me Georgia: Brophie takes the high ground. 
Our favorite fielder.
IIt was Brophie’s “never die” spirit that has been so inspiring. If he wants something he goes after it with single-minded passion. Ajit came down three times from Boston to meet him. Brophie was skittish around him in the beginning and hid from him. He hid from many others who came around. I realized then that he had decided I was going to be his person. When he saw I was comfortable with Ajit, he started immediately warming up to Ajit and his calm and loving energy.
Brophie took on 2 German shepherds and a Husky several times his size and attacked them because he thought they got too close to me, his prize possession. Who can resist a little 22-pound dog with a personality bigger than all German shepherds we have known and who loved me with such single-minded devotion!
This little Westie who had seen such brutality, violence, and ill treatment, was ready to give all his heart again. Unlike humans, many of whom dwell in negativity and often play the victim, often stuck in the prisons of their mind. Humans hesitate to make the effort to win over a dog. Dogs leave no stone unturned to love, heal and win over humans. They love, trust, and forgive again and again. So fearlessly, so totally.
Today he has been in our home since December 5, and he is the perfect boy. Minimal maintenance, very accommodating, highly sensitive, full of love and joy. I am still his person. He is still persistent. Most of the time he is on our bed with us or next to us wherever we are. At night when he must go back to his bed, he pretends to sleep, then watches us and slowly starts creeping towards our bed. Every single day. He is too cute to resist. It gets him another extra 10 minutes with us. And then it all starts all over again the next day.
Park adventures! 
“10 more minutes?”
He is very sensitive, and his feelings are hurt easily, He still gets separation anxiety and even though he was adopted with another beautiful dog named Sophy (her story to be shared later), he will wail nonstop if we are out. But when we return, he will prance around and run zoomies with such uncontained joy. It is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.
Dog is God spelled backwards and they truly are divine canines. They fill our hearts with such unconditional love and uplift our spirit and lives. They teach us so many life lessons through example.
What I have learnt from Brophie is the reaffirmation that while life is not perfect, you can be grateful for every positive moment that comes to pass – that love, gratitude, forgiveness, kindness, and loyalty can be given generously. They do not cost a dime. We discover that we humans are an inferior species often caught up in our ego, insecurities and presumptions. We chase material wealth and other irrelevant stuff that has very little value in the grand scheme of things.
We need very little to survive and the only moment we have is now. To live a fulfilling life, we must be better human beings than we are. And there are no better teachers for us than rescue dogs.
To donate please go to rmgdogs.org
To foster or adopt email adrienne@rescuemega.org
