Deaf shelter dog with mental health condition needs a home. ‘She can’t live like this’
A deaf dog with a mental health condition waits in a shelter — and she urgently needs a new home.
“On the outside, she looks just like any other dog. Sweet eyes and a smile that could melt your heart,” a South Carolina animal shelter wrote March 18 on Facebook. “But we hope that maybe, just maybe, someone out there can relate to Renee. Can understand what it feels like to be so alone, to not be able to control your thoughts or your reactions to them.”
The Greenville Humane Society said Renee has a “rare” condition that can be triggered by bursts of light, shadows and other factors it can’t control at its shelter.
“CCD (Canine Compulsive Disorder) is comparable to OCD in humans, and causes Renee to find herself trapped in repetitive motions or thought cycles,” Katie Wofford, marketing assistant for the shelter, told McClatchy News via email. “Some examples of this are running in circles, rubbing her nose against the ground, and other repetitive motions to self-soothe.”
Renee, who also is deaf, is receiving training and medication as she waits for a temporary home. Since she may need to go in for check-ups, she will need to be in foster care before she’s adopted.
“We are urgently searching for someone to open their home to Renee,” the animal organization wrote. “She would benefit from a predictable environment where she can get lots of supervised exercise.”
Renee first landed at the humane society in 2023. The shelter said it didn’t know about her hearing loss or canine compulsive disorder, and she was adopted. But when she returned in January, her health needs became obvious.
The humane society hopes Renee ends up in a calm home with a patient family. The 2-year-old mixed-breed pup is described as a “sweet, happy girl that craves nothing more than a stable, loving environment.”
As of March 19, Renee was still waiting for her second chance. Details about the shelter’s foster care process can be found at greenvillehumane.com.
“We know she can’t live like this,” the shelter wrote. “Trapped in episodes of repetition, digging senselessly or running into things that may hurt her.”
