A Long Journey Home

A motorist approaches a rural intersection; it's on one of those roads that sees more than its share of accidents; poorly lit, no warning signs, no shoulder, a four-way-stop in a most unexpected place. It's a dangerous place for motorist and even more dangerous for animals. That's why it did not at first register what he was seeing in the middle of the road . . .

A tiny little puppy.

The motorist stopped and scooped up the little thing before the next car could come along and claim its life. Then he saw them; two dogs hiding in the treeline. Fortunately, the frightened dogs came when called, jumping right into his car. Looking at them, it was clear he'd just saved a canine family. Mommy and Daddy were both purebred Boxers and their tiny baby the most adorable Boxer in miniature. He took them home. His mother promptly called a friend she knew volunteered for Heartland Humane Society, asking if we could help find the dogs' owners and, perhaps, take the dogs into rescue.

Meanwhile . . .

Heartland volunteers spent the morning at our shelter, loading as many dogs as we could fit into two cars, then transporting them from the fringes of Lincoln County to O'Fallon PetSmart, hoping to find homes for at least a few. It is quite a sight to see; cars so loaded, from floor to ceiling, with crates and animals, there is only a small space for a driver to fit. And it is a lot of work. It takes hours to prepare for a few hours of showing dogs. The dogs must be bathed or brushed. At both ends of each leg of the trip, there are dogs to walk, crates to set up, break down and haul. At the end of the day, it is worth all the work if dogs find new homes. Nothing, however, is more disappointing than loading all the same dogs back into our cars and returning them to the shelter at the end of the day.

But that is what happened last Saturday. The day was long and hot and tiring. In the end, all the dogs remained. There were no adoptions. As the economy collapses, our adoptions slow. Our foster homes are full. Our shelter is beyond capacity and each day we have to say "no" to saving more animals, knowing dogs and cats are being euthanized at alarming rates in shelters all over the region.

Room for Three?

We faced a huge dilemma when the Boxers arrived at PetSmart. Having none of our shelter dogs find a new home was depressing and disappointing enough, but returning to our shelter with three more dogs was overwhelming - no matter how sweet and adorable they were (and they were!) A flurry of phone calls to our contacts, begging for help to house the Boxers produced nothing. Everyone was full, my home included.

At the end of the day, we were faced with the choice of recommending they be taken to a city shelter, knowing that would expose the baby to deadly viruses she likely wouldn't survive and, because all the city shelters are also full, give the Boxers only a few days before their names made the list of animals to be euthanized. The other choice was to squeeze them into our full shelter. Somehow. We weren't sure how. We did not even have room in our cars to get them there and weren't sure we even had space to house them if we found a way.

One of our volunteers agreed to transport them to our shelter. There was no question that, from the point of view of animal lovers and rescuers, we were making the right decision. But from a logistic and financial standpoint, it wasn't wise. We were short staffed for the week and had a substitute coming in. We are under pressure to get our numbers down because the donations supporting the shelter are also down. Still, we found room and got the Boxer family settled - and hoped and hoped their people would soon surface.

A Series of Coincidences . . .

The following day, one of our shelter subs called me. "Why do you have Gypsy here?" she asked. "You know the Boxers?" I replied, thinking it just wasn't possible. But, it was possible. Her other job is as a vet tech and, by happenstance only, she had been the tech on duty when Gypsy, the female Boxer, was brought in by her owner for an ultrasound when it was discovered she was expecting puppies. We had the owners of the dogs in our sights and started calling immediately.

There was no response.

It was a very confusing situation. Once we knew the area the dogs were from, we were certain they did not walk themselves to the area they were found. The only option left was that they'd been dumped there. But what dog owner dumps dogs that not only looked well cared for, but were receiving veterinary care? There was a missing piece to this puzzle.

Finally, after days of no response, I drove to the Boxers' home. I half expected to see a For Sale sign in the yard of a vacant house, for the Boxers to be yet more animal victims of the economy. Instead, a young man answered the door. I asked for the owner. He said she was out of town. I asked if he knew anything about her dogs . . .

He said they'd be stolen.

A Cautionary Tale . . .

A teenage girl regularly puts on her rollerblades, puts leashes on her two Boxer dogs and takes them for long walks through their suburban subdivision. This is a very nice area filled with large homes and manicured lawns. It's a family neighborhood, filled with kids and pets. It's safe.

One day, a car slows next to the girl and her dogs. Two men inside comment about the dogs, noticing the female is about to have puppies. She later mentions it to her mom, but then the incident is forgotten.

A puppy is born. Seven weeks later, two men knock on the door of the home. They ask the homeowner to see the Boxer puppy. They want to know if the adult dogs are for sale. The homeowner shows them the pup, but is relieved when they leave. She has a bad feeling about the whole incident. She replays the conversation with the men, realizing they asked curious questions and that she may have unwittingly fed them information they used to convince her they were friends of a family member.

A bit later, she leaves to run errands. The dogs are out back in the fenced yard. They are contentedly basking in the sun and she doesn't want to disturb them. She instructs her daughter to let them in when they are ready. When her daughter goes to do so, they are gone.

The police are called immediately. There is no doubt the dogs have been stolen by the men. They must have still been nearby, close enough to see the police cars and know the incident had been reported. The heat is on. They remove the dogs' collars and identification, drive fifteen miles away and dump all three dogs out in the middle of a dangerous intersection.

Reunited . . .

Yesterday, the three Boxers: Gypsy, Zeus and baby Meatball, were reunited with their family. They spent a week in an animal shelter, doted on by its staff and volunteers, but unhappy just the same. They recognized their house and owners the minute they got out of my car. They rolled around in the front yard, wrestling with their owners' daughter and wagging their tails. When it was time to go inside, we let them off lead and they ran into their house. When we left, all three dogs were laying on the kitchen floor, totally content. Everyone involved was grateful.

Lessons Learned . . .

That these beautiful dogs found their owner was a complete and total fluke. They plan to spay and neuter the adults immediately, to update the dogs' microchips and to never again leave the dogs unsupervised outdoors. They went through an emotionally horrendous week, believing their dogs had been sold as "bait dogs" to a dog-fighting ring. Their dogs went a week separated from their owners. And our little rescue group learned, once again, how much more we could do for lost or homeless animals with greater resources. We came very close to saying "no" to these dogs. Had we listened to reason, as we perhaps should have, there would have been no happy ending for Zeus, Gypsy and their baby. We are so glad there was.

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Heartland would like to thank Zeus, Gypsy and Meatball's owners for their donation to cover the expense of housing and caring for their dogs. Because of their generosity, we will be able to help the next dog who needs us . . .