Our story continues...

After adopting Pluto I started following Darlington closely and trying to help the best we could by sharing posts on Facebook and collecting donations to take to them next time we made the trip south. We planned on traveling to Darlington for Mellopalooza, which was an event that directly helped the shelter. This event happened to be rescheduled due to weather, but that's another story for another day. Now that we kept a close eye on Darlington, to help I started sharing their Urgent Lists to our Facebook page. It was just another list on just another day when I got contacted by one of my customers asking how we can save the last 2 boys on the list. This is where Miles and Orville came into my life. I was immediately messaging my contacts at Darlington to see what could be done. After going over every idea we could come up with there was only one solution. We found potential adopters for both Orville and Miles so now we had to find a local rescue that works with Darlington. We contacted the closest rescue to us about the 2 boys we wanted to save. I was told I had to find my own fosters so I did, they agreed to pull Miles, so he was safe. Orville on the other hand was an issue for them, since he had issues on record from his previous owners. He supposedly wouldn't stop fighting with his brother, but was it because he's just young and immature, was the other dog really his sibling? I didn't know, but I had every confidence that we could save his life and fix his issues. Now that being said I know it is unreasonable to think that we can save every dog, but I had this feeling about this young brindle boy that I couldn't let go. After discussing with the local rescue and still being turned down I was determined to save this dog that was clearly just young and misunderstood. Let me ask you how does it make you feel when you are told "let me make the decision who is worth saving"? I think anyone would be sent through the roof with anger. I was at my wits end over one dog who was running out of time every minute that passed, people treating me like I know nothing and feeling helpless through it all. I had to try to keep in mind these people don't know me, they don't know what I do for a living or how much experience I have with dogs that have had issues in life. That is the only thing that kept me calm enough to think outside of my box for another solution. I did the last thing I could and called the one person that I was certain could help save him one way or another. In making that call I could barely get the words out that I needed help saving Orville's life, let alone reliving what I had gone through prior to calling her without breaking down. He deserved to have a second chance and I desperately needed her help. In the end the person who took the chance on me with Pluto helped me once again and I was able to save Orville. We had a couple hurdles, then a couple more, but in the end we were able to save both boys. I will never forget the day we met the transport van to pick up both boys who were now safe and on to better lives. We arrived with donations we had been collecting for Darlington, unloaded our donations, piled them with the rest that would be transported south. The volunteers opened the van doors and there Miles and Orville were patiently waiting to be let out of their crates. They were the happiest dogs, like they knew better was ahead for them. The trip home was smooth sailing thankfully. Fast forward to present day Miles has been adopted thanks to the efforts of my customer who originally asked the question, "what can we do?" She really helped me survive all the hurdles, I consider her my friend and look forward to helping save more dogs in the future. The best ending to this story is Pluto (who also by the way didn't get along with male dogs) and Orville get along enough to walk together and be loose together with supervision. My boys have me laughing every day and I am so thankful to have them in my life. 

In conclusion this was one of the worst and best experiences of my life, but I learned so much through the process. People who think shelters should make it easier to adopt should take time to consider this...You may know you are a good person or even a great person, but the shelter/rescue who is responsible for these animals that people have abandoned, beaten and/or starved don't know you. Take the time to get to know them, participate, help when you can, even if it's volunteering to walk some dogs and it will be easier for you when the time comes for you to save a life.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more dog stories.