– Trish Yerges

– Correspondent

ELGIN Wesley McDaniel’s dog, Tuck, had been missing nearly two days when he was finally rescued the afternoon of April 22 on Good Road, one mile in from Highway 82.

Tuck’s discovery and rescue was a collaboration of efforts by Gilbert Weatherspoon, brothers Gene and Jess Rysdam and Jess’ son, Dustin.

It was 11 o’clock Sunday morning and Gilbert Weatherspoon was traveling Good Road when he spotted what he thought was an old dog that had been shot. It was lying in the tall grass just off the road and along the fence line. Weatherspoon said he had driven past this spot two times earlier in the morning, once between 5:30 and 6 a.m. and again around 7 a.m., but he hadn’t noticed the dog either of those times.

This time, however, he saw something, and the scene was disturbing.

"At first I thought he was dead, and so I backed up to see," said Weatherspoon. "There was so much blood on (the dog’s) shoulder, I thought it had been shot and was dead. Then I saw it breathe. I didn’t really know what to do, so I drove over to tell Gene Rysdam because he’s good with dogs."

At the time, Rysdam was burning tree limbs and brush on his ranch on Merritt Road.

"Gilbert told me he observed a dog and thought it had possibly fallen out of a pickup or was dragged or maybe even shot. He asked me if I’d go see what I thought," recalled Gene.

Weatherspoon told him that the dog was lying where his harrows were parked on Good Road.

"I worked several more hours and around 3 p.m. I got in my rig with my two dogs and met my brother and nephew there," Gene Rysdam said. "We pulled up by the dog and there was blood all over in the grass and a puddle of blood on the paved road. My first impression was that someone had tied him to the fence post and purposely shot him.

He was bloody from nose to tail."

Tuck was lying near the fence with a rope tied in a slip knot around his neck. It was so tight that it was cutting into his skin. The other end of the rope was frayed, Rysdam said.

Also wrapped tightly around his neck was some red plastic baling twine. Both the twine and the rope were choking the dog.

"We thought it was growling at us at first, but it was just sucking in air, trying to breath," Gene said.

At the time, the Rysdams had no idea this was Wesley McDaniel’s missing dog, Tuck.

They called the vet from a cell phone, and the vet told them to go ahead and cut the rope off the dog’s neck.

"We couldn’t get a pocket knife under the rope, it was so tight, so Dustin used a utility knife and kept snipping away at it until it fell off," Rysdam said. Tuck’s rib cage expanded with fresh air, and "he really buttered up our hands after that."

While the vet was still on the phone, he told Rysdam to see if the dog would take water.

"This would be a good indicator, he said, of whether or not the dog was broke up inside. I had a coffee can in the truck, and Jess ran up to Gilbert’s place for water,” Rysdam said. "The dog must have gone quite a while without water, because he drank water like I’ve never seen a dog drink water before."

The vet told Rysdam to bring the dog to the clinic, and he’d meet him there.

Rysdam lifted Tuck up and put him in the cab of his pickup.

"He laid his head on my lap while I was driving. He knew he was hurt, and we were there to help him," Rysdam said.

Tuck was in critical condition, though.

"The dog’s right shoulder was ripped plumb out,” Rysdam said. "He had a large abrasion on his chest, and on his legs all the meat, bones, tendons and fingers were exposed. Some of the wounds were licked clean, and some were starting to scab over by the time we found him. He was a skinned-up dog."

At first Rysdam thought that they would be inheriting another dog in the family, until the dog was identified as the McDaniels’ dog, Tuck. Still, Rysdam was happy that he and his brother and nephew had a part in rescuing Tuck.

Looking back on the entire ordeal, Rysdam said, "I definitely felt a lot of sympathy for him, that badly hurt."

Because of the Rysdams and a skilled veterinarian, Dr. Tyson Shirley, Tuck is now at home healing. With the love of the McDaniels family, he is expected to reach a full recovery.