One Bad Day
Last Wednesday I found a small puppy wandering around in the middle of a country road far from any houses. This was just minutes after I had been forced to return another two-month-old puppy back to her owner after keeping her for 10 days for the young woman. I had formed a fast but very loving bond with both puppies.
Last night one of my cats whacked the second puppy, Maggie, near her eye, and this morning it was red and runny. I knew my daughter, Jane, was going to town for a router that would be needed to change from on-line service to satellite service for her computer, so I decided to take Maggie to the veterinarian for a checkup as I had planned to do next week. We also took Sheba, a rescued pit bull mama, to find out what else could be done to help the still unhealed spots left from the injuries she received when she was hit by a truck last summer.
Jane had other stops to make that made us late for the vet’s visit. Appointments are not necessary because there five doctors on duty, but they are gone every day for lunch between 12 and 1 p.m. So we decided to spend the hour and a half having a nice lunch at Sizzler. We found a small shade tree to park the pickup. Sheba was secured in the shell in the back, and Maggie was on a leash looped around the shift stick. It was about 80 degrees or more, so we had to leave windows open about a third of the way. We chose a seat in the restaurant where Jane could see the truck as we ate.
A few minutes later, Jane noticed Sheba barking at people and she went out to scold her. She didn’t look in the front seat at Maggie. When we finished eating and returned to the truck, Maggie was gone. Her leash had been unsnapped and left there but no puppy. Sheba had been trying to tell us something was wrong and was scolded for her trouble.
There is no happy ending to this story. Maggie has really been stolen. I keep thinking of all the possible scenarios that would cause an adult person to steal that pitiful skinny puppy. It would take an adult to reach in through the window. I had her only two days, not long enough for her to put on much weight, and her eye was inflamed and running. Maybe someone thought she was being abused and neglected. She might have been howling or maybe she was tangled in her leash. I guess I will never know. I was too upset to know what to do. I think tomorrow I will call the pound and the Humane Society to find out if someone thought they were rescuing her and turned her in, or if she was dropped off again and was found roaming somewhere else. I guess she has a better chance of survival in town than where I found her in an area where she was a sure bet for a coyote dinner.
Sheba had shown us earlier that she might attack the puppy, but when she was barking in the back of the truck she was trying her best to call us to come to the rescue, and we failed.
My dog, Smokey Joe, who didn’t like either of the two puppies, and my beautiful longhaired yellow cat, Buddy, seem to know how sad I am. They keep coming up with worried looks in their eyes trying to console me. My youngest cat, two-year-old Charlie, jumped into my lap, looked me in the face and rubbed against me. That isn’t his normal behavior, so he knows something is wrong, too.
You would think I would settle for twelve cats and one big dog, but they are all adult animals with a good routine that protects them all. I have never had much ability in dealing with people and I do much better with animals. There is something about mothering a needy puppy that makes life worthwhile. This is the third time in a year that I have tried to give a small needy puppy a home and failed. I guess it is not meant to be.
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Comments: 8
And it doesn't matter how many you have, pets are just like children. Each one is special and each one is an important part of the family...it doesn't matter if you just have one or if you have 15. I do believe your other pets are trying to comfort you and I hope that helps.
People release pets thinking either someone will pick them up or they'll revert to the wild and fend for themselves - people are stupid.
Julian - That is one of the scenarios I would like to believe. She did look pitiful and the thief would have had no way of knowing she was on the way to the dog doctor after lunch. I hope the dog thief doesn't abandon her when he finds out she isn't housebroken. Her little bladder can't hold it more than a few hours and she has to be taken out at night. She did use a newspaper most of the time when I couldn't take her out.
Jane says that fate meant me to be the way for that little puppy to be brought from the wilds of east county San Diego to town where she was to be stolen to console a little boy with cancer. That would be a positive thing. Who knows what fate has in store for that puppy, but it obviously wasn't meant to live with me.
Did you hear the allegedly true story about the lady who was driving along on a bitter, icy winter day and saw a little shivering dog sitting all alone on the sidewalk? She pulled over, picked him up, took him home, fed and warmed him and began watching the newspapers for a 'lost dog' ad. She found a description of the little dog a couple of days later, called the number, got the address and ended up taking the little fellow - right back to the house in front of which she'd picked him up! Mommy had let him out to relieve himself, and... well.. there you are!