One stray dog loved to spend her days wandering up and down Washington Street in downtown Marshall. She would visit every single business from Pazzeria by Pietro’s owned by Joseph Filappazzo all the way down to Covington Credit. And then she would get all sorts of food and treats every time she comes by.
As the story went, the stray dog was found by Raven Lenz, owner of Black Bird Bathhouse, when they were still at their old location. She easily gained Lenz’s trust and friendship with her sweetness and the same thing happened with the other businesses nearby including Black Coffee Records, East Texas Supply Store, and The General Store.
These businesses all cared for the stray dog for months, feeding her with food and drinking water. Then they noticed that she was always starving even though she was eating from all of them so they affectionately named her Starvin Marvin. Afterward, they came to realize that Marvin was starving and not gaining any weight because she was nursing puppies.
Because of that, the whole community became concerned about Marvin’s safety so they tried multiple times to take her off their street. But every attempt to take her home proved to be unsuccessful as her puppies’ whereabouts were still unknown. So Lenz along with Trey Jackson of Marshall Homecare and Hospice followed Marvin home.
They trailed her for three hours after the business closed one night until they were able to spot her at a house close by. That’s when they knew the puppies were there because Marvin returned there every night. Jackson immediately contacted the owner and asked for permission to search the house.
Once Jackson got permission, he quickly got Lenz as well as other employees from different businesses to help in the search. It took hours, some creativity, and a bit of digging, they were finally able to locate Marvin’s puppies. As it turned out, she kept them safe underneath the ground near the water heater.
Five healthy puppies were recovered and it was undeniable that Marvin took such good care of them. After that, they all took them downtown where Sharon Gray of Covington Credit who used to feed Marvin picked them up and brought them home.
As of now, all puppies have been adopted out to local friends and family with Gray personally giving Marvin her forever home.
Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph
