Ziggy: A Foster Dog's Journey

Facebook post from a shelter through an aussie rescue

Luke

Luke at the shelter

Animal ID 15554685

Species Dog

Breed Spaniel/Mix

Age

Sex Male

Size Large

Color Brown/White

Housetrained Unknown

Location Kennel

Intake Date 3/3/2012

All dogs at this shelter have a mandatory hold of 72 hours, except for owner surrenders. Emancipation dates are the date they can be ADOPTED OR RESCUED! ALL DOGS/CATS AT THIS FACILITY MUST BE CONSIDERED URGENT!!!!

Aussie rescue message sent to me personally on facebook:

Quick favor! Would you be willing or know of someone who would be willing to foster a "golden" aussie. It is a young pup, about 5 months old, and scared to death in the shelter. He is slated to be euth'd at 9am tomorrow morning.

Shut down in typical Aussie fashion, in the shelter and time running out…

The word went out with no response. I sent desperate messages to other rescue organizations, friends and dog acquaintances.

Tick Tock… shelters are overflowing… fosters are over their capacity…

Always, in the back of my mind is the recognition of who I want to be. I want to be hands on, not just a net-worker on facebook. Dreams of a large farm and animal rescue station… Black Beauty Ranch East, I think to myself. All dogs, all animals, would have love and the finest care. My Utopia: a place where children that suffered similar fates as the animals, and people of all ages that were ill or struggling could all come there and heal together. People that loved animals like me could come and give.

But reality hits me over the head like a hammer.

Lil' Buddy and Carrie

I’m a suburbanite with no fenced in yard and 3 dogs already, one of which goes by the name of Lil’ Buddy. He doesn’t answer to it, but that’s his name. Bud is a rescued Corgi mix that, well, is a Corgi mix with occasional tendencies of mad dog fights over dirty dishes in the dishwasher, a sack full of oyster shells, basically whatever he deems as his. If you are a canine in my house, excuse me, his house, then, get out of his way.  His outbursts are enough to strike fear in the heart of the most seasoned dog owner. On the other hand he is a sucker for human attention and knows how to work a room with his big brown eyes, sweet expression, and fluffiness. He can be quite the little charmer.

We also have an Aussie female, Carrie, a blue merle from working stock. She is our GORGEOUS baby and she knows it. She was born with strong opinions and disdain for most other dogs and treats her fellow canines as livestock. She entertains herself by herding them into the ground! What else could they possible be good for, I mean really!

Katie the Sad Elf

Our third and by far not the least… we are saving the best for last. We would like to trot out Katie the Keeshond, our little stage hound Diva who is always putting on a show, expects an audience and the cheers and bravos that she deserves. She makes sure that everyone watches while she is on her little stage by meeting every eye with her own… “Watch this everybody”, “Did you see that”, she seems to say while she performs her 360 leaps to catch the ball, her violent toy thwacking and her routine of obedience that is preformed in one giant spectacle…real fast, pay attention now…sitdownrolloverspeak " tada… did you get all that?" "I will do it again if you cheer for me." She is not a dog person we say. She is into people. This dog once sulked for days after receiving only 2 toys for Christmas. She kept going back to her stocking and back to us. “Okay, great, I got a Mean Kitty toy for thwacking and a ball and, and, and …” complete deflation and devastation ensued.

Did I mention that we have a neighbor that hates dogs and has made this fact known to all who will listen including our home-owners board?

Received a message from the aussie rescue...


Please help. Fosters full and no place else to go.
He is slated to be euth'd at 9am tomorrow morning.

Seeing Luke's poor expression over and over, again and again, left us no choice, in spite of all of the rational arguments, practical thinking, impossibilities mounting… our conscience would lead us to the only decision that we could make, the right one… we had to save him.

Our workweeks were well underway and the shelter hours limited, located 90 miles away, the earliest we could get there would be after his scheduled euthanasia. With our stomachs tied up in knots, the aussie rescue got back in touch with the shelter and they agreed to hold off no later than that afternoon. We had to get there by then or it was over for this pup.

Unable to leave work myself, I enlisted the help and fast driving skills of my boyfriend Chris, who raced to the shelter with very little time to spare, skipping a lunch meeting, worried that he wouldn’t make it in time for this scared pup.

The contact person at the shelter was wonderful, kind and loving. Chris talked to her for sometime about how difficult her job must be and how grateful he was to people like her. She said it was really hard and she gets through it by knowing that she is giving all the love she can to these unwanted animals in the short time that they have left and for most, it may be the only kindness that they have ever known.

Seeing the remaining dogs at the shelter was extremely tough for Chris, but knowing that they were slated for rescues and foster care was a relief… and it was a relief that he made it. Chris made it in time to save one young dog named Luke.

Luke starts his freedom journey

The journey back to life and a chance for happiness was not
realized for Luke in those first few hours after his “emancipation”, as it was described on his paperwork.



He sat glued to Chris’s leg in the car, still shut down and unsure of the love that awaited him only 90 miles away.

"What's next?"