BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) – Animals and pets are known to be loving and energetic. But just like people, animals can hold onto stress and anxiety.
“It’s usually a lot of psychological damage. Puppies are extremely resilient, and dogs are extremely loving and forgiving that we don’t see problems that aren’t able to overcome,” said Jane MacMurchy of Animal Charity Ohio.
“Emotional trauma is really dictated by the dog, so it can stem from something significant, like physical harm, or physical abuse and neglect, to a dog who charges another dog or attacked by another animal,” said Jenny Falvey of Dogsmartz Unleashed.
Just like people, animals can behave differently when under stress.
“You can see things like with becoming withdrawn, hiding to avoidance. You can see dogs that freeze, in other words, shut down and have virtually no response to things. You can see more aggressive displays as they become defensive,” Falvey said.
Many of these cases can be seen in the Valley. Last September, Humane Agents rescued an 8-year-old dog named Iggy after being at a Niles home alone for a week with no food or water. In August, agents rescued Bentley, who was found lying under a bush at a home in Youngstown. He was five months old at the time, weighing just 11 pounds.
“We have dogs that have been with us for six, seven years that have yet to find their forever home. They have overcome their obstacles, and they’re amazing, adoptable dogs that have lived through some traumatic experiences,” MacMurchy said.
“We’ve had so many dogs that have come from abusive situations or house fires where they’ve really struggled with their environment. And what we’ve seen over time is that they’ve been able to make significant changes in their world. They’re able to oftentimes handle the world in a better way, which is far better emotionally for them than where they were at before,” Falvey said.
And with a little bit of patience and care, those animals will soon be on the road to recovery.
“Most of the time they are so receiving of love that it’s almost an instant connection, and I think that’s why we fall so hard in love with these dogs,” MacMurchy said.