Jack Russell Personal Rescue

I was getting my hair cut this morning when my stylist mentioned that she has a friend that needs a foster home for a JRT. The dog was living with the family (children and two other dogs), but they moved to a place where they were only allowed to keep two dogs.

They found an empty barn and have been keeping the dog there for 2 months and they visit to give it food, etc. It's getting colder in Illinois now (dropped below freezing the past two nights) so the situation isn't good for this little dog.

Apparently there is a guy that keeps horses nearby and occasionally shows up to whip the horses and the dog.

In sum:
The dog has been neglected and abused and hasn't lived in a house in a few months.

Should I rescue it? We would have to crate him while our lovebug Herschel roams the house until we develop a better idea of his personality. We don't have a fenced yard (which is absolutely necessary for a JRT), and the dog would be alone for 3 hour periods during the day.

Some sort of home is better than no home, but are we the right people for this job?

As long as it's only temporary, it would certainly be a better situation for the dog rather than being alone and abused somewhere in a cold barn.

Have you considered turning him over to a JRT rescue?
http://terrier.com/rescue/rescuemenu.php3

Absolutely. I need to see him first, though. The situation (and the information that I've received) are kind of suspect...

Supposedly it would be a temporary situation because the family would like to take the dog back into their house at some point. However, if they have small children why would they want an untrained, potentially aggressive JRT?

If they are planning on taking him back, then it would be wrong of me to butt in and foster the dog as part of a JRT rescue (with the idea of finding a real permanent home for him), but if they really aren't interested then I will definitely take him to a more suitable home.

To be honest, I couldn't see a dog who was forced to live under that kind of circumstanes to be a suitable pet for a home with children. That's just asking for trouble.

For the sake of the dog it would definitely be better to hand him over to JRT rescue and let them pre-screen any potential new homes.

No one has contacted me so who knows...