Owning an animal is a tremendous responsibility. They become an important part of our lives once we keep them as pets. It takes more to look after a new dog or cat than just a love of them; you have to be ready to dedicate a fair chunk of your life to their care and upkeep.
Not everyone has what it takes to be good to animals, for one reason or another, though. Such is the story of Tori the dog, whose owners weren’t able to give her what she needed with truly tragic results…
For years, Tori the dog lived happily with Oksana and Alexander Urusov. Their two young children adored the pup and it really seemed that Tori was a part of the family, appearing in countless family photographs.
That’s why what Alexander did to her is so shocking and heartbreaking. When he and his wife Oksana were flying to Germany to see their kids, they decided to bring Tori along…
However, at the airport, officials quickly discovered that Alexander did not have the paperwork necessary to bring Tori on the plane. Unless they acquired this, Tori would have to stay behind.
Alexander and Olga were stressed at first, but soon Alexander came up with an idea. He told the airport officials he would call a friend to get the dog, and he carried her outside in her carrier bag to wait for her pick-up.
What really happened, however, couldn’t have been more different than that plan. Alexander never called a friend to retrieve the dog like he told airport officials. What he did instead was the height of irresponsibility…
Alexander put his own needs above the needs of his pet, and actually hid Tori outside the airport terminal where no one could easily see her. Then he went back inside just in time to catch his flight.
Three days later, Oksana posted a message to a local website searching for Tori. The guilt was too much for her to handle, so she shared a description of their sweet pooch, admitting what she and Alexander had done.
Oksana’s message read: “Our children can’t stop crying, please can you help? We’re ready to pay the fine. We had to leave her at the airport… they didn’t take her on board at check in as we were flying to Hamburg to see our children.”
Animal protective services raced to the airport to try and find the abandoned dog. Alexander had hidden her so well that they needed the help of airport security and CCTV tapes to find the dog’s location.
When they found Tori, it was too late. She was still there, but tragically she had frozen to death in the single-digit temperatures. Tori was hunkered down inside her carrier bag, waiting for her humans who would return far, far too late.
When people found out about this horrific incident, not only were they outraged, but a petition was started to have the owners charged for their cruelty. Hopefully the courts do, in fact, hold them accountable for their atrocious action.
As much as you’d like to believe that Tori’s story was the only incident of a helpless dog being left alone at an airport, it wasn’t. One afternoon at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, a security guard found something in the bathroom that broke their heart…
A three-year-old pup was alone in a stall, and his owner was nowhere in sight! The poor dog had been abandoned, but there was something especially upsetting about this particular incident…
The dog, whose name was Chewy, had a note attached to him explaining why his owner had left him. She was apparently fleeing an abusive relationship, and she didn’t have the money to bring Chewy along with her.
The security guard quickly contacted local rescue organization, Connor and Millie’s Dog Rescue. An employee named Darlene Blair, a passionate animal lover, happily picked up the pup so he could be cared for by professionals.
According to the note, Chewy had been kicked in the head by his owner’s boyfriend, and he may have suffered serious brain trauma. Chewy’s owner hoped someone would give him proper medical care, but was his health in too serious of a condition to help?
Fortunately, Chewy’s initial veterinary exams turned out okay! Even though he had come from a violent home, he seemed so much more chipper now that he was surrounded by love and affection.
After a few days at the rescue shelter, Chewy’s playful personality completely came out. The employees were overjoyed that he was getting used to his surroundings, and he wasn’t letting the experience in the airport restroom negatively affect him.
When interviewed about his rescue by a local news reporter, Chewy was all smiles. He was probably thinking, “Life was ‘ruff’ for a while, but luckily the amazing people at Connor and Millie’s gave me a second chance!”
Thankfully, Chewy’s story unfolded differently than Tori’s, but an important lesson can be learned by both: even when it seems like there are no other options, always make sure an animal you can no longer care for ends up in good hands. Abandonment is never the proper course of action.
Tori’s owners are facing criminal charges for their treatment of the dog, as they should. Fortunately, not all stories like that end as tragically.
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