They say the abuse went beyond them, and was systemic, affecting hundreds of others who went through the ranch. Rick, Steve, and six other men the Guardian spoke to named staff members responsible for the abuse, which lasted from the 1950s until at least the early 1990s. The other is when he talks about what happened to his younger brother Rick, and how powerless he was to help him. The first time is when he describes how a succession of dogs he owned, all called Boots, were killed by staff members. He’s a tough man – he served in the Vietnam war and was wounded in the line of duty – and his piercing blue eyes only sprout tears twice.
The ordeal has permanently damaged their lives.Īt the kitchen table in his immaculate home in the Amarillo suburbs, Steve, now almost 70, goes through all of the details of what happened to him without showing much pain. Some boys, including Rick Smith, were also sexually abused while under the care of the ranch. “We’ll still love him and take care of him.Along with the physical punishment, Steve’s pets were killed, and his friends were worked to the bone in atrocious conditions. “I know it’s silly to think that a dog is gay, but if he wants to be gay as hell, he can be gay here,” he added. Oscar is now happily safe and sound at his new home. “My little dog used to hump an Old English sheepdog that was five times his size just to show him he was boss,” Nichols said. Their humping is considered a dominance behavior, and both male and female dogs engage in it, she said. Melissa Knicely of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Animal Care and Control told the outlet that dogs are not a species that has intercourse for pleasure. Nichols called the staff at the Stanly County shelter “real heroes” for taking care of Oscar. Oscar’s humping was a common canine behavior that is not necessarily sexual in nature, according to reports.
“They don’t get the attention they deserve for what they’re doing.” “This was just a one-time thing for us, but they do this stuff every day and deal with it all the time,” he said. Nichols called the staff at the Stanly County shelter “real heroes” for taking care of Oscar, who will share a home with the couple’s Chihuahua-terrier mix, Harry. “I told him to jump in the car, he jumped in and sat down on the seat.” “He obeyed commands just like he had been listening to me all of his life,” he told the newspaper. “It was pretty apparent to me that he has not seen a good meal or a groomer in his life either,” he said, adding that despite his condition, Oscar was “extremely sweet.” Steve Nichols and his partner were inspired to adopt Oscar after hearing about his previous owners’ bigotry. “What is almost as concerning as the idea that he’s gay, and that the person gave him up for that reason, is the fact that the owner apparently didn’t do anything to take care of this dog,” Nichols told the Charlotte Observer. Oscar wasn’t feeling well when they arrived to pick him up Tuesday. The couple decided to rename their new four-legged family member Oscar - after Oscar Wilde, the gay Irish poet and playwright in the 1890s.įezco has been renamed Oscar, after gay poet Oscar Wilde. That’s just pack behavior,” he said about Fezco’s previous owners. “It was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. “We looked at each other and said, ‘We got to do something,’” Nichols told the news outlet. Steve Nichols and his partner, John Winn, decided to adopt Fezco when they realized he was facing the same kind of ignorance and bigotry they’ve faced as an openly gay couple, the Charlotte Observer reported. The dog was dropped off recently at the Stanly County Animal Protective Services, a shelter in Albemarle, after his owners saw him mounting another male dog and assumed he’s gay. Pet owners can now sleep in giant dog beds: ‘It’s a need’Ī North Carolina dog who was abandoned after his owners saw him humping another male pooch and feared he might be gay has found a new family - who named him after a famous gay Irish poet. Roland the ‘Farting Dog’ and his constant gas are a TikTok sensationĬhicago suburb adopts law limiting how long dogs can bark Rescue dog gets new mission with elite bomb squad