EAST HAMPTON, NY — A dog who was left alone in a kennel where he was used for laboratory experiments never lost his soulful spirit — and he even saved a life before being given his own second chance.
According to the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, a recent transport brought three dogs and two puppies to East Hampton Airport on Tuesday.
One dog, a 3-year-old English Mastiff mix named Zeus, had a story that melted hearts. Zeus escaped euthanasia in a Louisiana shelter only to become a laboratory animal in a local university’s veterinary technician program, ARF said.
“By all accounts Zeus was patient and affectionate with the students, but apart from spending a few holiday breaks in a student’s home, he lived a solitary life in the school’s kennel,” ARF said.
After almost two years living at the university, a student found a local rescue, Happy Tails, “who agreed to take Zeus and help him find the home he truly deserved. His best chance for adoption in this rural region with more abandoned animals than adopters meant that Happy Tails would work to transport Zeus to the northeast,” ARF said.
But Zeus’ road continued to be marked by challenges, ARF said.
“Two days before Zeus’ release into Happy Tails’ custody, another dog would need his help. Mama Marmalade, a young dog that had come into the university for a routine procedure, was clinging to life when an accident caused her to lose a life-threatening amount of blood. Zeus’s blood type was a match, and he saved her life,” ARF said.
Once safe with Happy Tails, the search began for a shelter in a new community where Zeus would have the best chance at finding a home. However, the shelter learned that Zeus was positive for heartworm, and he would not be able to make the trip out of state until he received treatment, ARF said.
Happy Tails reached out to ARF, whose transport team had traveled to Louisiana following the destruction wrought by Category 4 Hurricane Laura during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic before vaccines were available, ARF said.
With support from donors including the Irving and Phyllis Millstein Foundation for Animal Welfare, ARF agreed to underwrite Zeus’ heartworm treatment.
After months of treatment and almost a year of coordination, Zeus took his first trip in a plane with ARF’s partner and friend, Four-Legged Fliers.
Once medically cleared by ARF’s veterinarians Zeus and the other rescues will be available for adoption.
Adoption applications can be found on the ARF website here.
This article originally appeared on the East Hampton Patch