By William Smith
Mr. Bojangles doesn’t know why his family locked him in an outdoor cage and abandoned him outside the Burlington Animal Shelter this past Memorial Day weekend.
He didn’t even know his name. Like most of the animals who end up at the shelter, he didn’t come with any kind of history or identification from a previous life.
So the Des Moines County Humane Society gave him a new name, based on his penchant for cutting a rug with his toenails. Figuratively, that is.
Mr. Bojangles was likely an outdoor dog and isn’t crazy about the feeling of a man-made floor beneath his feet. But he’s getting used to it.
“Bojangles has happy feet. He loves people so much and his feet don't stop moving when he sees you!” shelter director Kandi Hillyer said.
When Hillyer first met Mr. Bojangles a few weeks ago, the 8-to-10-month-old Labrador retriever (and possible German Shepherd mix) was hot, tired, and terrified. Southeast Iowa had endured its first warm streak of the summer, and the shelter is not open Mondays.
Mr. Bojangles had been left in one of the shelter’s outdoor cages without water to drink on Sunday night. There was no one around to help him until Tuesday afternoon.
When Hillyer came back into work the following Tuesday and found Mr. Bojangles in the cage, she was mortified and angry. The dog was frothing at the mouth due to dehydration and had spent the previous day or so barking for help.
The only thing his previous owner left in the cage to keep Bojangles company was a sealed bag of dog food.
Hillyer posted about the dog’s situation on social media, her outrage reciprocated by the community.
“To the person that dumped this poor dog with a cheap bag of food in the outside runs at the animal shelter last night or early this morning ... Shame on you! He has no water and is extremely hot and tired from barking for help. He is terrified! We need you to contact the shelter and surrender your dog properly if that is what you were attempting to accomplish,” Hillyer said in a post-Facebook post when she found Bojangles.
Hillyer hoped to find the original owner so they could be turned over to the Burlington Police Department for animal abandonment. She didn’t have any luck.
But there were more important matters, such as making Mr. Bojangles feel loved. Mr. Bojangles returned that love almost immediately — he danced.
“He's quite the dancer,” Hillyer said.
Mr. Bojangles was cleared for adoption late last week, and so far, there haven’t been any takers. Hillyer said a meet and greet would be required with other dogs in a household, should that family choose to adopt him.
“We are sure that he will bring a whole lot of love to his new family,” Hillyer said.
To learn more about Mr. Bojangles, call the Burlington Animal Shelter at 319-753-8389 during business hours. The shelter is open from 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. on weekends.
Appointments are no longer required at the shelter, so Mr. Bojangles can be visited anytime during those hours.
Photo: Mr. Bojangles as he was found abandoned at the animal shelter.