Justice for Porter

For the last two plus months since the Zuckfoltzfus dog Porter was attacked inside our our home by a deliveryman, many of you have been kind enough to continue asking how he is recovering. Every day,every encounter with someone outside the immediate family, has been a test for Porter. One month ago, there was a ray of hope when someone came to the door and he suddenly ran right up to him. A few nights later, he was back to cowering in a corner and shaking, despite efforts to get him to come over to get his head scratched or belly rubbed. Nearly three months after being attacked, we'd have to say that it looks like our boy is changed forever. Porter is no ordinary dog. In fact, he's more human than dog. Porter, a gorgeous red aussie shepherd, is extremely smart and sensitive. He's chock full of emotion and unlike his brother Otis, a chocolate lab mix, nothing is a simple command but more like a lengthy discussion and explanation. The downside of Porter's intelligence in light of this attack is that he has learned not to trust everyone as he used to do. He now knows humans can be capable of some very ugly behavior. He knows this first hand. Porter was a rescue dog. He was part of a litter dumped on the side of the road in North Carolina. We adopted him hours after his arrival in Philly after he was saved by some pretty incredible people, only to find out the next day he had parvo virus and a host of other potentially lethal bugs. He has cheated death twice already - and certainly deserves to live a life of nothing but happiness at this point. After what has felt like a very long time waiting, tomorrow is our day in court. His attacker will have to face the charges resulting from that horrible day in our home: harassment, disorderly conduct and animal cruelty. The officer who filed these charges, Cook from Mount Joy PD, understood the seriousness of what happened. And spending more than one hour at the house, he saw Porter poses no threat to anyone. We're hoping our judge tomorrow also sees the absurdity of what happened and finds this monster guilty. Still, there is no legal punishment that will be enough for what he's done, or that will return Porter to the happy go lucky dog he was before he was slammed to the floor by a stranger. Tomorrow is going to be tough, looking at that monster square in the eye, saying the details of my horrible memories out loud. There's the uncertainty of if he'll even show, if he'll come up with some crazy defense, or show up clean shaven and showered, unlike the filthy piece of crap who came to our house that day. It's hard to fight tears back writing about this, and I know I'll spend the day dwelling and likely not sleep much. But this is our one shot to fight for our dog, and for "justice" for him. The Zucks want to thank all of you for your support through this. Sometimes people who don't say much at all or appear to generally be in their own little worlds surprise you when something like this happens to a pet. We'll keep you updated on what happens. And when you walk by our place and see our little maniac, running in circles, tail wagging and trying to get your attention, say "hey, Porter, you're a good boy." No dog deserves what happened to him.