Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 26, 1995 TAG: 9505260053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
His name was a natural.
He was a hound dog, with a fractured pelvis.
Elvis.
A man brought him into Valley Animal Hospital in Roanoke three months ago - plucked from Interstate 81 near Troutville. The black-and-tan hound also had a fractured leg.
"He didn't seem to be in a great deal of pain, but he was kind of in shock," Valley Animal receptionist Amy Moomaw said.
He stayed at the hospital for a month. Got a pin inserted in his right hind leg. Developed a taste for hamburgers.
And after endearing himself to the hospital staff, he was turned over to the Roanoke Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter for adoption.
Two months later, Elvis still does not have a home. And the shelter staff has refused to put him to sleep. An animal's usual shelter stay - before it is adopted or euthanized - is one month.
"He's gotten to the hearts of everybody," said Al Alexander, the shelter's executive director. "We've got too much invested in him. He needs a home. He needs to get out of here."
The SPCA's Injured Animal Fund was $178 in the hole when Elvis arrived. He became sort of a "poster dog" to encourage fund donations.
The fund now has $1,400, a little more than half of what's needed.
"That can deplete real quick," Alexander said. "We always need money for that. We were able to save 33 animals last year due to [Injured Animal] fund donations."
Elvis is a spoiled dog now, content to lounge in the shade and gnaw on a chew toy or a steak bone, said Sharon Hartman, a shelter employee who works as a humane educator and investigator.
His leg is nearly healed. The pin is expected to be removed today.
"He's the most loving dog," Hartman said. "You know what his favorite song is? 'You Ain't Nothin' but a Hound Dog.'
"When nobody's around, I sing it to him."
by CNB