On July 6, 2006, Preston and two other dogs were taken from a home by humane investigators during a drug bust in Akron, Ohio under the suspicion they were being used for dogfighting.
The (estimated) one year-old dogs were brought to the local humane society where they were kept as evidence, in a state that had laws restricting the ownership of pit bull dogs statewide since 1987.
The earliest known image of Preston was taken on July 7, 2006 for his intake photo at the shelter. If you look closely, you can see lacerations on each arm, as well as other visible injuries.
Once Preston’s health improved and he was deemed safe and suitable to have visitors, Shana Klein – the founder of the Cleveland-based dog rescue For the Love of Pits, frequently began spending time with him, knowing there was a strong possibility that he’d be euthanized at the conclusion of the case.
Then one week Shana was notified that the other dogs Preston came in with were put to sleep. This only reinforced her belief that this would ultimately be Preston’s inevitable fate as well.
And, on Friday, July 28, 2006, her suspicions were coming true. At about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, Shana received a courtesy call from a member of the shelter staff, informing her that Preston was scheduled to be euthanized at 4 p.m. that day.
As Shana explained – she hung up the phone and drove to the shelter to beg the Executive Director to give her one more day to find a foster home.
Thankfully, her plea worked.
I began my blog – “Preston’s Perch” in the spring of 2011. I got the idea one day as I watched my dog Preston sit atop the backside of our couch to look out the window. It became a regular perching place he’d go to get a clearer view of the outside world.
