Rescue dog living his best life thanks to Portland woman and community support

By Bonnie Silkman

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    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — After a rough start to life with abuse and neglect, a Portland dog is showing us how the support of our community is keeping him moving.

Hitching a ride with mom, rocking a million dollar smile and a whole lot of tongue, the very fashionable American Bulldog, Captain Jack, doesn’t let spina bifida slow his roll.

He can’t control his back legs, but he’s too busy to notice. Captain Jack spends his days hiking all over Oregon and living up to the famous pirate’s name, with a deep love for the ocean and a big taste for adventure.

But his favorite thing would definitely be his mom and hero, Wendy Jordan.

“As soon as I saw his eyes, I knew how badly I needed him and how badly he needed me,” Wendy said. “So I’m just so grateful and inspired by him.”

It was his eyes that made the connection. Wendy spotted Jack for the first time on Instagram in a post from an animal shelter in Philadelphia. Looking at his eyes you’d never know about his dark past.

“He went through a lot of pain and suffering – I mean he had urine burned into his fur,” Wendy said. “The people that were taking care of him were totally neglectful. He was covered in fleas, urine and feces, suffering extremely. So after three months of that, they decided, ‘okay, we can’t make money off him,’ so they dumped him in a box.”

It’s painful for Wendy to think about puppy Jack, who was born to a backyard breeder near Philadelphia and spent the first three months of his life surrounded by neglect and abuse.

“He really, really endured a lot. I knew I just need to love him and give him a life he deserves, because people failed him and I didn’t want to fail him,” she said.

Fail him she did not. Wendy drove all the way for a cross-country adoption.

After smelling the tulips in Oregon and soaking in all the sights, the community helped to raise money on a GoFundMe page for Jack’s new wheelchair. It took one hour to raise enough money.

“I couldn’t believe it. I had to refresh the page and pinch myself. I can’t believe how much people love us and want to support him,” Wendy said. “It’s absolutely given me hope for humanity, I have this inspirational dog and inspirational community.”

But every now and then, Wendy says people look at Jack and don’t understand.

“Sometimes people stop me on my walk and say ‘why are you doing that? This dog doesn’t have a high quality of life,’” she said. “Just look at his face, look at the joy in his eyes. Don’t you see what he can do, look what he can do.”

And Jack can do a lot, and he’s got a big team behind him with thousands of followers on his Instagram page.

“There’s people out there who’ve never met us, they’re not family or friends, they’re just following his story,” Wendy said. “They love him and want to give him the best life.”

The best life he will live thanks to Wendy’s love.

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