I must share this story! Please read....

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share a little something with all of you. But, I am long-winded so get comfy !

I have been wanting another dog for quite some time now. I already have 2 of the greatest girls but I am greedy and want another one to love. My husband has been against the idea... understandably so. I knew he wouldn't go for buying one or even taking a free puppy that we were offered. I also felt it better to adopt or rescue a dog in need.

For some reason every time I drive down this one particular road near our home I feel like at some point I will see a stray dog and hopefully be able to pick him or her up so they won't be hit by a car. The road is very dark at night with only a couple of streetlights and it is fairly well traveled. I figured finding and resucing a stray would be my only chance of getting another dog.

Please don't think bad of me... I don't wish for any dog to be out wandering alone but it happens...and many times I am not able to stop and help. Well, last night, my intuition came to life. I was driving down that same dark road as usual and saw movement in the opposite lane coming towards me. I slowed and I drove past the dog I looked at her and she looked at me. She was walking down the center of the left lane like she thought she was a car!! I pulled over and as I was getting out (there were cars coming up behind me and I knew they wouldn't see her) she was walking towards me in the right lane! She must have turned around as I pulled over. It's like she knew I was stopping for her. I grabbed her collar so all of the cars could pass and finally she just walked right past me and jumped in my backseat!!

It was as if she was a little human and knew exactly what to do! No hesitation what-so-ever! So, I jumped back in the car and proceeded home. I did feel bad though because I didn't want anyone thinking I was some horrible, greedy dog-snatcher!! But, I had to get her safe. Getting her into my house with my other two dogs was a challenge but we finally managed.

Now, the bad part... My husband decided it was best for us to call the police (we didn't know of any place open that late where we could take her and he didn't want her to stay with us). The police animal control van came to pick her up (against my wishes but I had to go along.) and I asked where she would be taken and what would happen. The man was very nice and probably fed us a bunch of bull.

She was taken to a shelter near our home and I went and visited her this morning. I sat with her for about a half an hour. I was informed she will be held for 3 days and then evaluated to see if she is adoptable. She is very sweet and will definitely pass the evaluation. Then, she will be adopted out if her owners don't claim her.

I wanted to share this story for a couple of reasons. I'm sorry it's so long though....

First off, I regret letting her go to the shelter. For one, we want her back and they will not just release her back to us. We must pay $70 and adopt her. The money is no big deal but it is a hassle. She is worth it though. But, if for some reason she was found to be not adoptable she would be put to sleep. I knew this kind of thing went on but have never dealt with it face to face.

We have put flyers out all over to hopefully find her owners. I have been contacting the shelter to see if anyone as claimed her and I plan on visiting her everyday. We are first on the list to adopt her so basically she is claimed by us - hopefully my husband will not change his mind. But, I will never allow another stray to be taken to a shelter. I want to take the responsibility for finding the dog a new home.

I realize I can't save the world and I don't think I will find a stray dog every week but seeing all of those poor animals in the shelter today broke my heart. I cried last night after the dog was taken away and I cried as I left the shelter today. I can't believe how many dogs are left homeless!! They sit there and stare out at you with those big eyes and some shiver because they are so scared. It is a horrible feeling to walk through there. So, I can't imagine being a dog and having to stay there...

My point is that if you find a dog try not to take it to a shelter like that...you all probably knew this already... wish I did. I feel horrible. We couldn't find anything better and since this all new to us we weren't sure what to do. I know there are plenty of no-kill shelters but we had no idea how to find one. Sounds ignorant, I know, but like I said... this is all new to us. I would just prefer to shelter every poor animal myself but my husband wouldn't go for that.

Secondly, going to a shelter/pound and just taking a peek will make you never want to buy another dog again! I am convinced that I will NEVER EVER buy a dog! They will always be rescued or adopted by us if we want a dog. There are way too many dogs out there that need homes... I know most of you agree with this and understand.

I guess I just wanted to relay my story to help everyone else see my point. Also, I hope I didn't make my husband sound like a bad buy. He just has to be the rational one out of the two of us. I go instantly to emotional overload and try to save the world...so he has to balance me out. He did cry last night as the dog was taken away too. And, he is willing to take her back...let's just hope he doesn't change his mind. If we do get her back we want to try and place her in a loving home. But, I have a feeling he will become too attached after awhile...I know I will!

In closing, I will update this story if you would like me to. I know this is long so I will try to keep my updates shorter. Also, pray that this sweet little girl will be returned to her family... or us!!

Thanks

Angel - doggemom

[Logan]

Angel,
Even if her owners claim her, you did a wonderful thing by stopping and picking her up. She could have easily been hit like so many others.
If she was wearing a collar, maybe she does have a home, but what was she doing out on the road???
Believe me, I understand what you went through. I was lucky enough to find a good home for the only stray dog to ever find me. And I get to visit him too! We also recently found a cat, who found his forever home with us. Can't let him go, but cats don't take quite the space and food that dogs do.
Good luck and keep us posted. Sounds like you might get your wish! I sure do hope so.
Logan

[Angels3]

doggiemom, you wonderful person, I read every word of your post. That stray dog is lucky to have someone like you waiting for the adoption time to come up. I found our little male sheltie 12 yrs ago in similar circumstances...wandering in poor condition with rope burns around his neck. In phoning around to try to find his owner, I was advised to take him to the animal pound...but , no way, I recognized what a sweet dog he was & we already had another sheltie. No owner was found, so he's lived with us for 12 years . He's elderly, in good health, but completely blind so we have everything set up so he's safe & happy. We even carry him up and down the stairs he can't see any more. He's the most loving little dog we've ever had.
While animal refuges can look depressing, many of them try to do the best by the animals. I'm currently working along with a local animal shelter on behalf of a rescue groups & the refuge manager couldn't be more caring, flexible & efficient. Which means we can do great things for the dogs.
But I agree with you. Once you've seen dogs in an animal refuge, you feel determined to save them in some way. I think there are many ways of helping, like volunteering to do some tasks for a shelter, working with a rescue group, helping spread the word about the dogs' needs, making donations & helping with fund-raising etc.
Also I think all activities that prevent dogs turning up in pounds are useful, too, like supporting desexing programs, having identification discs on dogs, educating about responsible pet ownership, helping spread the word about dogs needing adoption etc.
I think your post about your experience with this lovely dog will contribute to helping dogs in need...because you are reminding people of those needs & encouraging them to give priority to adopting from an animal shelter.
Best wishes & please keep us up-to-date with what happens.

[Sudilar]

Angel (and you truly are one),
You were wonderful to stop and pick up that poor pup in the middle of traffic on that dark road. You put your own safety in jeopardy! I understand your remorse in seeing the pup taken to the shelter. There are some horror stories of shelters and then there are some great no-kill shelters. There was an incident at the kill shelter my two GSDs were adopted from. Two huskies (older-about 7-8years old) got out together. Someone a few blocks away from their home who did not recognize them, found them at night and took them to the shelter that was open at night, it was far away from their home. The owner didn't think to call that shelter at first because it was so far away. By the time she realized the dogs were taken there, the shelter claimed that they were adopted out and no information could be given. Turns out that it was a lie and the dogs were killed. (They said they had kennel cough?????) What a tragedy!
I hope and pray everything turns out well for you and the pup. You can't save everyone. You saved her from death in traffic! For that alone, you are an Angel!

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***Save a life, ADOPT***

[Logan]

I've been thinking about this so much, and then after reading Sue's post, I began to wonder. Where are the identification tags?? This is a good reminder that we need to make sure we always have the rabies tag and/or a separate personal identification tag on our dogs. Even with our best care, there is always a chance that this could happen to one of our dogs too.
Everyone, please make sure to take the time to get id tags for your dogs, as well as microchip if possible. It might just save their life!!!

[buckwi1d]

Originally posted by doggiemom:
My point is that if you find a dog try not to take it to a shelter like that...

I'm so sorry that your lost pup had to go to a shelter, but have hope that a happy ending may still happen for you two!

We had a similar dilemma last week when a puppy showed up cold and hungry at our doorstep. My mom has been fostering her since then (my place is only big enough for Tide). She has turned out to be a real sweetie and my mom is falling for her (we're such softies). We have put up found dog flyers, scoured the neighborhoods for lost dog signs, given our information to the pound and talked to neighbors in the hopes of finding the dog's original owners. We are also going to place an ad in the paper just in case.

So far, nothing. This pup is still a baby (puppy teeth are still in) and she arrived with no collar or tags just a wonderful and friendly tail wag. We refuseto take her to the pound/shelter even if we are unable to find her owners. The shelters in our area have similar rules to yours and more likely than not she would never even get the chance for adoption (and she is a healthy, great pup).

In fact, my mom was planning to rescue a pup this summer as a playmate for her other dog - and the way the two of them are getting along, maybe this pup is just an early present!

We wish you and the lost pup lots of luck!!!

[buckwi1d]

Originally posted by Logan:
This is a good reminder that we need to make sure we always have the rabies tag and/or a separate personal identification tag on our dogs!!!

I TOTALLY agree! Tide has two sets of identification on his collar, as well as a microchip. Not taking any chances with my sweet peanut.

I have also seen collars that have the dog's name and a phone number embroidered on the collar itself. Seems like a good idea.

I especially advocate the use of microchips because when I was at CARE they told me that over 50% of the animals that arrive at shelters no longer have their tags on.Plus it is so cheap and easy.

[Sudilar]

I agree with the chip. This way if the tags become lost, the dog can still be identified. My 2 have chips, also.

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***Save a life, ADOPT***

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Doggiemom, that is a wonderful story and you did a very brave deed, we are all hoping that you do get this dog and get to keep her.
We also have chips on each of our two Schnauzers and my husband also has three tags on each, Rabies, name and address and military tag. Sometimes I don't know how they hold their head up.

[Daisy's Mom]

Daisy does not have a chip but reading all that made me really thikn about getting her one. She does have a collar that says her name and our phone number, and a tag with her name, my family's name, our phone number, and address. Hopefully that's enough for now! I will talk to Mom about chips. Doggiemom you are such a wonderful person to save that dog! I have posted this somewhere else but I too found a stray dog and my mother advised me to call the dog officer. He never called back so I assumed he didn't care. I began taking care of the dog, who I called Bandit. Then one day I got home from school after maybe a month and the dog officer had taken here away. It was really hard for me, just a little forth grader then, to not have been able to say goodbye. I tried to find out where she was but I never did see her again. I hope she was adopted or her owners found... I don't even want to think about her being put down as she was the sweetest girl. Good luck with your dog and know that you made a big difference in her life!

"You may be just one person in the world, but to one person you may be the world."

Thought that quote fit the situation, even though it should say to one dog

Hello again... First of all, thank you all for your support and kind words. They mean so much to me. I truly appreciate them

As for the stray dog I found... Whom I have decided to call Maddie, she is doing well despite her circumstances. I visited her yesterday and twice today. She knows me and seems to get sad when I leave her. She goes up for her evaluation tomorrow after 3pm and you can bet I will be there!!! Provided she passes we should be there Thursday to adopt her ! Still pending hubbies final approval of course... but he has already accepted the name I gave her!! No owners have claimed her yet... very sad.

Thanks again for all of your kind words. I cried while reading your replies and similar stories. I'm glad that there are people like us around. If all the world cared like we do then there would be no sad stories to report. But, I feel Maddie's story will turn out just fine !

I am brainstorming to try and find the best way to branch out and help bet others become more aware of the importance of I.D-ing their pets and spay/neutering them. Since the net has brought us so much info maybe I can use it as a tool....

More later - Good news I hope!!!

Angel (waiting patiently for Maddie to come home...)

[RachelJ]

DoggieMom, I can really emphathize with how you feel. Everytime I have been to a shelter, I have stood there and started to sob. There is so much Need and so few resources. I too have a husband who feels that two is the maximum number of animals for our household. We have two dogs now and he won't even consider adding a cat. In our situation, deep down inside I know he is right. We both work and I don't seem to "keep up" with the housework as it is. Neither of my dogs feels that she/he gets enough personal attention either. Yet my passion in life would be to devote myself to rescue work and have an assorted number of waifs to help by fostering and healing their spirits. Because I don't drive, I can't do some of the other volunteer activities that others are involved with. One thing that I will say for the shelters is that they are really better than foster homes for the dogs to "be seen" and in that way have a chance to be adopted. The times I've been in the shelter near my home, there was a steady stream of people looking. But although it was clean, the cages with no opportunity to run and play or socialize with other dogs or go potty outside their cages, it is all so overwhelming to them and to us knowing what they must be going through.

Good luck with your precious Maddie (and I love that name). What does she look like?
Please keep us apprised of any developments as they occur.

[Gio]

You were great to stop and save the poor thing from a (very likely) accident. One of my cats was run over by a car when she was only 30 days old and therefore lost a great part of her right front leg. She was then taken to a shelter where I adopted her from. My sister also has a 3 legged cat that she adopted from the shelter where she does some voluntary work. These 2 angels were very lucky and are now happy but I know that there are so many who are not…

I really hope that you will be able to keep Maddie. Even though kill shelters have been abolished by law here in Italy, it still breaks my heart to think of all these animals spending their life locked in a cage without anyone to love them. I dream of owning a dog, even though I live in apartments with 3 cats and due to some health problems my elderly parents also had to come and live with me so were are rather crowded at the moment. But if I were to find one…

Please keep us posted.
I’ll be thinking of you

[Stenograsaurus]

Hello, Angel. What an appropriate name. You are definitely Maddie's angel. I am having dejavu as I read your story. Last July, I picked up a full grown female Shepherd mix who was running down the middle of a very busy back road with no houses around. She was very underweight, about half of what she should have been. She was definitely somebody's "throw away". I took her to the humane society. I assumed they would clean her up. She is long haired and it was coming out in clumps. She needed a good brushing. I went to see her every weekend and all they did with her was throw her in a cage and feed her. I asked them the one time if she had a chip and they said that they didn't have the equipment to tell that. (Sorry to those of you who have your dogs microchipped). I wanted to bring her home but my husband was totally against a third dog. I told the humane society to call me as a "last resort". To make a long story a little shorter, I brought her home after three weeks. She had eventually won my husband over and not a day goes by that we don't thank God for sending her to us. I jokingly refer to her as the dog I saved, put on death row and saved again. Just like things worked out for me, I am sure they will for you too. Keep us posted. I hope she comes "home" soon.

[This message has been edited by Stenograsaurus (edited March 07, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Stenograsaurus (edited March 07, 2001).]

[Genia]

Kudos to Doggie Mom for picking up the stray or should I say Maddie! I do hope the adoption goes through. If he jumped in the car that easily he formerly had some human contact. Probably another "Throw-away". How sad. As far as dog tags, I don't know why everyone doesn't do it. Both my dogs have two tags. One with rabies vac date, the name of the vet clinic, and an ID number; and another with their name and my phone number. The microchip would definitely help in case of theft or if the collar is removed. Tags are relatively inexpensive. They can be purchased from the vet or even at WalMart they have a machine that will inscribe a tag for something like $4.00. My dogs have never been lost but I have on at least two occasions had a dog come into my yard and I was able to call the owner because their number was on the tag.