Last year, Eleanor Rigby spent the holidays picking through trash cans on the San Carlos Apache Indian reservation, searching for food and a place to keep warm.
After a group of Tucson animal advocates spotted her in April, a joint effort was put in place to bring the 75-pound mixed-breed dog to safety.
Eleanor will be spending this holiday season inside a house, among a pack of dogs and foster parents who love her. Meanwhile, she’s ready to find her forever home.
Nancy Young Wright and Carolyn Plemons were leaving the reservation on April 28 after spending five days at a wellness clinic with the Rural Area Vet Program, when they first spotted Eleanor.
“We stopped at the gas station near the Apache Gold Casino and RV Park and noticed a bedraggled, thin dog pushing the doors of the trash cans open, looking for something to eat,” Wright told the Star in an email.
Plemons went into the gas station and bought some cheese and crackers, which the dog cautiously accepted, Wright said.
With a carful of luggage and no place to take the dog so late on a Friday night, Plemons and Wright weren’t sure what to do with the dog, who was already wary of coming too close.
“A man walked up and said he and some others in the RV park had been trying to catch her for a while, but they didn’t know what to do with her if they succeeded,” Wright said.
The man, Tommy, and his wife, Becky, traveled between Globe and Louisiana, but stayed at the RV Park when they were working at the nearby mine. Wright gave him a slip lead and the couple said they’d try to catch the dog.
On the drive home, the Beatles song “Eleanor Rigby” came on the radio, and the women believed that was the perfect name for the lonely dog who they couldn’t stop worrying about.
For a while, Eleanor seemed to vanish, as no one in the area saw her for several weeks, but in June, Tommy called to say that Eleanor was “back to cruising the gas station and the RV Park BBQ circuit for handouts,” Wright said.
A plan was formed for Tommy to try to catch the dog and Julie Cassadore, an animal-rescue advocate in the San Carlos area, was notified in case the group was successful in catching Eleanor.
After several days with no luck, Tommy was finally able to get the lead on Eleanor, and Cassadore picked her up and kept her overnight in a kennel, Wright said.
The next day, Wright and Plemons were on the road to pick up Eleanor and bring her back to Tucson, where Lil Bit of Love Rescue had agreed to sponsor her after she was checked over at the Santa Cruz Vet Clinic.
“Her eyes were so crusted over I don’t know how she saw much,” Plemons wrote in an email. “Looked so lonely and sad ... she never snapped once.”
Eleanor was suffering from a serious tick infestation, but after her second bath, the “ticks, dirt and grime washed away to reveal a beautiful, brindle dog,” Wright said, adding that they’ve since learned that it’s likely Eleanor was living alone on the reservation for several years.
The dog was treated for skin allergies, vaccinated and spayed before going to stay with her foster mom, Kleighrayne Piasecki.
While Eleanor had a little trouble adjusting during her first few days in a house, she’s now made herself right at home, Piasecki told the Star.
“She was really afraid of people at first, especially men, and also dogs,” Piasecki said. “Once she got used to my pack, she became 100 percent devoted.”
Eleanor, who was initially afraid to walk through doorways, came to Piasecki very emaciated and about 20 pounds underweight but has since filled out nicely.
After a few months in Piasecki’s home, Eleanor has come to love her kennel, where she eats and sleeps, and has become extremely trusting when she meets new people, Piasecki said.
Eleanor is housebroken and while she tested negative for tick fever, she does have valley fever and allergies, for which she takes oral medication, Piasecki said.
It’s unclear what type of dog Eleanor is, although Piasecki thinks she could have some mastiff or boxer in her.
“She’s a desert dog. She could be 100 different breeds,” Piasecki said with a laugh.
Eleanor gets along well with cats and because of how happy she is with the dogs she now lives with, Piasecki said she thinks Eleanor would do best in a home that has another dog.
Anyone interested in adopting Eleanor Rigby can fill out an application at lilbitoflove.com/adoption-application/ or call 869-9537 for more information.
