“Dogs give us their absolute all;
We are the center of their universe;
We are the focus of their love and faith and trust,
And we have absolutely no right to abuse this.”
Roger Caras
I had received yet another extremely sad telephone call concerning an extremely loyal dog that had been very cruelly abandoned and left behind at a boarded up, foreclosed house.
“She’s been there for quite awhile now, sleeping on its front porch, and she refuses to leave. Her family abandoned her there to fend for herself, yet she is still diligently guarding their home. I know she thinks they’ll be coming back, but they won’t; and now, she’s starving. She also won’t let anyone come near her, or this old house. Do you think you might want to trap her?”
How could I refuse? How could I not attempt to help an extremely faithful, left behind canine like this one? How could mankind be so damned cruel to man’s best friend, even in this abysmal economy?
When I arrived at the address given to me it was already dark, and at first, I didn’t see her there. But as I shined my flashlight toward the front porch, I spotted a matted hunk of dirty tan and black fur, and she quickly raised her head toward the light. I could now tell that she was a small Shepherd mix.
As I approached the house, she stood bolt upright, and she immediately began growling at me. She was weak from hunger, but this extremely loyal left behind canine was still willing to defend her now long gone family’s home with her last breath.
This wasn’t going to be easy, I sadly thought to myself as I pulled my trusty old dog trap from my truck. As I set it up on the grass in front of the house, this extremely diligent ‘Defender’ never took her eyes off me, and I could still hear her warning growls.
After my trap was baited with food and water, I tossed a chunk of meat onto the house’s front steps. ‘Defender’ immediately sniffed the air, and she soon began salivating. It was sadly evident that she hadn’t had a decent meal in a long time.
As she eyed the prize on the steps, I now dropped several pieces of meat near the dog trap, and I then quickly retreated into my truck. She very warily watched me sitting in it for awhile, but her great hunger eventually trumped her great distrust, and she soon gobbled down the piece of meat on the steps.
And before very long, she now followed the heavenly trail of food morsels to the trap’s entrance, ravenously gobbling them up as she came forward. But at the very entrance to the trap, she abruptly stopped dead in her tracks, and she now very warily stared up at me sitting motionless in my truck.
We were both now caught in a time warp that seemed to last forever. I prayed that she would enter the trap; she very cautiously stood there staring up at me, not moving a muscle, attempting to decide.
After what seemed like an eternity, she slowly walked into the trap, and its door snapped shut behind her. I thanked God that she had decided to let me help her.
I now loaded this extremely loyal, starving, left behind guard dog in the trap into the back of my old truck, and she now very sadly looked me in the eyes, already wondering if she had made the right choice, and probably wondering what would become of her now. She also soon very sadly began whining as we pulled away from her old home. I think her guilt at leaving her self-assigned guard duty post must have been enormous.
Thankfully, she warmed up to my spouse rather quickly when we arrived back at my home, and she now spent the rest of the night in a cozy warm bed my wife had prepared for her in our garage.
By the next morning, she had decided that I was also worthy of her trust, and as my wife drove us to our veterinarian’s office, she now very happily sprawled across my lap in the back seat the entire trip, showering me with numerous kisses of gratitude.
That’s when I discovered how awful she smelled; she really needed a hot cleansing bath; and now I laughed and I named her ‘Stinky.’
My spouse, however, would not hear of it; and she soon began calling her ‘Carrie.’ This extremely loyal canine then spent several days at the animal hospital, being treated for parasites, and being pampered, and bathed, and fed.
My wife and I are now extremely determined to find this extremely loyal, lovable, and already much happier canine, the loving new home that she truly deserves.
©November 2011, Mr. Ed
Another Submission To The Great Animal Rescue Chase
Joy L. Hale
Thank you for all that you do............
Anna
*Mr. Ed*
with Carrie now
guarding your heart!!
Lady Vivian
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Texas, Karen Lynn. :)