I grew up in St. Louis Missouri. Our family took in strays, because it seemed the right thing to do. We treated our animals as family. We spayed and neutered our pets because it was the only way to control the growing population of pets.
Years later, I finished college at Arizona State University. After class, we would gather mangy dogs from Indian reservations, trailer parks and the desert. I began a formal spay/neuter project in Guadalupe Arizona which seemed to benefit pet owners from this poor community.
Moving to Texas and living in impoverished Bastrop County, a friend and I created a program entitled 'SpayStreet.' This program provided outreach to pet owners that would not fix their pets without intervention. Later I implemented this program for a large shelter.
I hope you enjoy these happy tales of animal rescue. These stories reveal an animal's resilience to adversity. Our pets provide us hope and inspiration in difficult times.
Highway dogs don't get second chances. When I saw Bubbles on the Highway 71 median, Christmas eve, I said a short prayer for our safety. The cars never seemed to notice a 40 pound dog scrounging for food on the highway. I pulled onto the frontage road that paralleled the highway, so Bubbles could see me. When I called to her, the skinny blue dog left the highway and came toward me. Ever so gently, she approached, as I reached out to her with a handful of treats. She hesitated at first. When she began to eat gently from my hand, I quietly slipped a lead over her neck. She was safe!
We rapidly had her spayed and I named her 'Bubbles.' She's a young Blue Lacey mixed with pure joy! She adores everyone that she meets. She recently found her forever home with a young woman in Bastrop County. They'll be best friends forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment