Is he uglier coming or going?

1/6/07

It’s been a busy week for me. The madness began on Wednesday, when I got a call from the pound asking if we could take a mother dog and her 9 tiny puppies. Jennifer (another rescue volunteer) and I put our heads together, and came up with a plan: Cathy could foster another mom and pups if the mom of her previous litter, Elaine, was moved to another foster home. We remembered that Rob and Rachel only had one foster dog, and they soon agreed to take Elaine so Cathy could have the new litter. Thank you, Rob and Rachel!

After a meeting with the manager of the county pound to discuss some changes to rescue procedures, Jennifer and I met Cathy in the kennels. Mom dog was supposedly an “Aussie mix”, but turned out to be a big-headed, long-legged, deep-chested dog with a short brindle coat. We’re guessing Great Dane mix. She was desperately skinny. Her puppies looked fat and healthy, in every shade of brindle, with a few solid browns and two spotted ones. We know they’ll be well cared for at Cathy’s house. Thank you, Cathy!

On Thursday, Jennifer got a call from the pound about a sweet little boxer with kennel cough that needed to be rescued. Jennifer decided she could foster the dog, but she had to be bailed out by Friday morning and Jennifer had to work, so I agreed to pick up the dog and take her to the rescue group's headquarters, where Jennifer would pick her up that afternoon. At the pound, I brought the little boxer out of her kennel in sickbay and started her paperwork. She had been impounded on Christmas Eve, so I named her Eve. Little Eve thought she was a lap dog, and took turns climbing into anyone’s lap who sat down close enough. She would lean into my chest and soak up the hugs. Before I left, I saw an adorable, fluffy little terrier or shih-tzu mix whose release date was that day. She had a small but deep wound on her side, so she would not be able to go up for public adoption. I thought she would be the perfect foster for me.

Later that day, I got a message from the pound that there were numerous dogs in need of rescue, could we take any? I returned that evening and found about eight kennel cards in the rescue basket. I evaluated the animals, eliminating a couple that showed aggression, and recorded the rest of them in my notebook. I sat down and called Jennifer, and we wracked our brains for foster homes for six dogs. One was a Jack Russell that would be particularly hard to place: she had been exposed to canine parvovirus, and although she showed no signs of it, she still might develop the illness, which is highly contagious. Finding a foster home where other dogs would not be put at risk would be a challenge.

Another dog that needed to be rescued was the ugliest little dog I had ever seen: he had the beginning of cataracts in his prominent eyes, a wicked under-bite, crooked, misshapen legs, and bald spots on his hind end, probably calluses from sitting on a hard surface for long periods of time. He shivered and wagged his tail and gave me kisses through the chain link. He had too many imperfections to go up for public adoption. How could I give this little wreck to an unsuspecting foster? I certainly couldn’t leave him behind. I would have to take him myself. I named him Snuffy, and he came home with me that night. The others would have to wait until the next day.

We had no idea where to place several of the dogs, but that night, Jennifer got a call from a woman named Keri who wanted to foster for us; she said she could take two dogs. There were two small dogs that had been at the pound on a bond hold since December 19. Their owner had failed to pay their bond, and now they had kennel cough. The older dog had become very depressed and withdrawn. There was also my small, fluffy dog to place, so on Saturday morning I called Keri and asked if she could take all three dogs, since they were so small. She wasn’t sure she could, so I told her we would keep looking for another foster. Later that morning Jennifer remembered another foster, Lori, who had taken a puppy earlier in the week, but might be able to take a second foster. I gave her a call, and sure enough, she was game.

Before I left the house that morning, I checked my messages: a mama dog with 10 babies had been relinquished last night and needed to go to rescue, could we take them? The only foster I could think of who takes moms and babies, Joan, was currently fostering a batch of older puppies, but she and another foster, Jane, had split a large litter of older puppies between them. The two batches of puppies could be re-combined with no risk of contagion, since they were all from the same litter. I drove to the adoption center at PetSmart where Joan and Jane were working as adoption counselors to see how many of their puppies were left. Only one of the 8 had been adopted, but Joan agreed to take them all so Jane could take the mama dog and her tiny babies. Thank you, Joan and Jane!

From there I headed to the pound, where I did the paperwork for the three small dogs and the mama dog. I named two of them after the kennel techs who had been the most helpful to me in the past two days, Helen and Mindy. Little Mindy was the fluffy cutie I had passed over in favor of the ugliest dog in the world; I felt a little bit wistful as I loaded her in the van. Next I led the two dogs that had been held on bond, a wirehaired dachshund mix named Paloma and a cocker/poodle mix named Monica, out of their kennel. The older one didn’t want to get up at first; when she finally rose and stepped out of her bed, she only took a few steps before her front legs collapsed, and she stood there with her chin on the floor looking dazed. I was worried that her kennel cough was something more severe, and she was too sick to walk, but after some encouragement she gained her feet and came trotting after me. We were almost out of the kennels when she gave up again; she was too frightened and overwhelmed to take another step. I picked her up, and she shook in my arms. Before I made it out the door, a kennel tech asked if we could take a mastiff mix that had been on the adoption line for days, but had become very depressed, and was losing weight. I said we’d try to find a foster.

Before I could deliver the three small dogs to their fosters, I had to stop by the rescue headquarters and pick up a pregnant cat, which I would transport to her foster back on the far northwest side of town. Then I drove to the rendezvous point where I had arranged to meet the fosters of the small dogs, a Starbucks parking lot at a major intersection. As I was waiting for them to arrive, I got a call from the pound: a husky mix on the adoption line had come down with a snotty nose, could we take him? Jennifer told me she had received another call from a person who wanted to foster for us, but she needed a smaller, female dog. (We thought she might take the Jack Russell that had been exposed to parvo, but her own dog has valley fever, so we won’t risk exposing him when his immune system is compromised.) So I called another foster, Casey, who only had one foster dog at the moment and might take a second foster dog. She said she would. Thank you, Casey!

Little Mindy was transferred to new mama Lori’s care without a hitch, but Paloma and Monica were more of a challenge. Poor Paloma scared her new mama Kari half to death by collapsing onto her face again, apparently overcome by stress. She recovered nicely once she was safely stowed in the back of the SUV with her sister; but as we shut the hatch, the little devils squeezed out just before it closed, and ran in different directions. I stepped on Paloma’s leash almost immediately, but little Monica was quicker, and nearly ran under a moving car before poor Kari could step on her leash and scoop her up. Once safely stowed in the back of the car once more, both dogs scrambled out of the cargo area and began to explore. Naughty Monica managed to step on the door lock, and lock all of the doors; thankfully, mama Kari had the keys. We were very careful and quick when we loaded a bag of dog food in the front seat, and soon they were safely on their way home. Thank you, Lori and Kari!

I was on the final leg of the giant loop I had been making around the city, and could only hope the pregnant cat would not give birth in her carrier before I could deliver her into foster mama Rita’s care. She didn’t. I came home to the ugliest dog in the world, who greeted me with the same love and enthusiasm as my own dogs. I made a call to Jane to see how her mother dog and 10 tiny puppies had settled in; they were fine, and Jane happened to mention that one of her foster dogs had been adopted today, and her foster brother was all alone in his yard, and could use a companion. I asked if he might like a skinny, depressed mastiff mix for a new friend, and Jane thought he might. Tomorrow, I will pick up the mastiff from the pound and deliver him to Jane’s house, after Casey picks up the husky mix.

1/7/07

After a morning of transporting cats to Oro Valley, I headed over to the pound, where I discovered the mastiff had not been released for adoption after all. I called Jane and told her I might bring her a different dog, if there was one that needed rescue. Casey was on her way to pick up the husky mix, but I still hadn’t found a foster for the Jack Russell. Suddenly I realized that the only dog at Casey’s house was a fully vaccinated adult: the risk of him contracting parvo, if the Jack Russell had it, was minimal. When she arrived, I asked her if she was willing to risk it, and she was. So Millie the Jack Russell went home with Casey and her other foster dog, Leon, who seemed happy to have the company. Thank you, Casey!

Oddly enough, the husky mix also had the name “Millie” on her kennel card, but we couldn’t have two dogs with the same name, so I changed it to Tillie. I boosted her skinny frame into the van and trekked over the Tucson mountains to Jane’s house. It was a treat to tour her little private animal sanctuary, and meet her many rescued cats and dogs. I also helped name Helen’s 10 tiny puppies, and delivered a few bags of food for her 4 adult foster dogs. Tillie handled her many introductions graciously, and I know she’ll fatten up quickly in Jane’s care. Thank you, Jane!

In five days, I had signed out and coordinated foster care for 9 adult dogs and 19 puppies. Without the intervention of rescue volunteers, they all would have been put to death at the pound.