Gus Han James
A couple who wanted a Chow contacted us. The wife wanted a Red male Chow she could name Gus Han--Han being in honor for the Han Dynasty in which the Chow was first introduced to the emperor's palace in China.
So one day we'd gotten a call from the Fairfax County shelter saying they had a Chow they wanted us to take a look at for rescue. After having seen him, the attendant just happened to mention that they had another Chow there at the time they had finally caught after several months of running the streets of Fairfax. So we asked to see him as well.
When we walked up to the kennel, we found the saddest, disreputable looking, mangy, large, red, male Chow. Upon first sight, I said, "That's Gus!" He was exactly what I imagined him to be when first told what the wife had described as what she was looking for. Gus barely had any hair in most places, had horrible calluses on his elbows where he'd apparently been kept in a cement run too long, and ultimately was found to have stage 2 heartworm. But we had gotten him out of the shelter and taken him to our vet at the Oxon Hill-Ft. Washington Animal Hospital who treated Gus for all his ills.
Despite how horrible looking Gus was and the condition he was in, the couple wanted him. We went to their home to treat Gus weekly for the mange for about a month. Gus' mom and dad made sure he went in for all his heartworm treatments. Today, Gus is the most beautiful Chow that we never imagined he was when we first saw him. He lives with his mom and dad and his younger brother Popo who is also another of our rescue success stories, and we attend their birthday parties each year.
Family Album
Page created by: Adopt-A-Chow Rescue
May 10, 1999