The Power Of Forgiveness...

[Ophidiophile]

I was at work tonight, the last hour of my shift, when Animal Control brings in a dog they found on the side of the road covered in ticks.

'Covered' does not even begin to describe the 500+ ticks we pulled off this dog.

The dog could not walk, could barely lift her head. The doctors suspected tick paralysis. (O rly?) ...Everyone was so grossed out by all the swollen, fat ticks covering the dog--even the doctors!...I was the only one who didn't flinch at gloving up and plucking them off, one by one. I'd been at work on the dog for almost 1/2 an hour before one of the managers who had been talking with the animal control officer said they were just going to euthanize her. I exclaimed "But what if she gets better? They wont even give her the night to see if she'll improve once she isn't covered in ticks???" Nope, evidently they weren't up for that.

I looked down at this dog, who was barely flinching as I pulled tick after tick off of her...her poor ears were bleeding from all the ticks we'd removed! She was not emaciated. She was obviously not spayed, she'd had puppies, but very young (1-2 years) ...and I just couldn't take away the chance, the mere possibility, that this dog may bounce back to it's feet once we removed all the ticks. She was beautiful, she deserved a chance...how could anyone look at this dog and not give her the chance???




What do you see? Some BC? Some Shepherd?

So I asked the doctors what they thought the odds were. She was already lifting her head, trying to move her legs, and we hadn't even removed half the ticks, yet. I stepped up and offered to foster her, if they would give her the chance and see if she'd improve by morning. The animal control officer signed her over, and I resumed picking ticks. 2 hours later, she should lift her head, sit up, kick her legs around, she ate, drank, and was heartily giving me kisses and squirming to be in my lap when I'd kneel down to her. That alone brought tears of hope to my eyes, and I was blown away by the thought that this dog was so...grateful. So loving. She had obviously not seen the better half of life during her short time on this planet, and yet she was still so...forgiving.

The doctors and I talked, and we decided that if she had not improved by morning, we would evaluate the possibilities, and euthanasia might be a consideration. If by morning she was up on her feet, or at least greatly improved, our next step would be a heartworm test. If she is heartworm negative, I do my best to get her a great new home. If she is positive...we'll cross that hurdle when we get to it.

I have 4 dogs, and 2 fosters living with me right now...2 of which are puppies, and one foster will most likely be here permanently as nobody wants a dog thats likely to die in the next couple years... I'm at my limit. I was at my limit when I looked into those deep, brown eyes and sighed..."Ok." ...and asked them not to kill this dog and to give her the chance she deserved. I'm lucky I work where I do and that they're so willing to help me and my soft heart in the most inexpensive ways possible...

I will update you all tomorrow on her status. If she is heartworm positive--which is a very strong possibility, in fact almost a certainty!--I will do what I can. Any of you that wish to help at that point please feel free to Email me @ sincereartisan@aol.com

I've named her 'Torah.'