Is There Any Chance?

In early December, my daughters were made aware of a situation that ended up driving us all crazy.  A man stopped in to the shelter and reported to Older Daughter that he’d just seen a dog lying on the side of the road a few miles out of town.  The man said he was sure it had been hit by a car, and he first thought it was dead.  But then it moved.  Older explained that Animal Control had to be informed and that she would do that immediately.  She called the county animal control officer who said he would go to the location.  But he had some news of his own.  This was a yellow lab that he had already tried to catch on two different occasions.  The lab had been reported running in that area; the area includes a busy highway and railroad track.  Each of the times the animal control officer had been there, the dog had run away from him as fast as he could and disappeared into a heavily wooded area.  He said he would go out there and hope to get the dog – everyone felt that it would be easy now because the dog was injured, possibly terribly so.  But he couldn’t go right then.  So my daughters took a quick trip to the location fearing that he was so badly injured that he couldn’t move.  He had to be in pain.  Maybe he would try to stagger away from the spot and get hit by a car (again?).

They found the dog lying on the side of the road.  They pulled over and started towards him and he got up and started attempting to get away.  He was limping badly.  It appeared that he wasn’t using his front right leg at all – carrying it and running on three legs.  Every time they tried to get close, the dog would run farther away, limping all the while, but able to run on three legs enough to eventually disappear into the woods.  The girls got back to the shelter and reported all of this to the animal control officer.  Later that day, the county officer and the city officer went to the location together.  They saw the dog but could not get him.  My daughters were sick.  Younger would be getting off work earlier than Older that day.  She called me and told me the story and asked if I still had my extra large live trap.  Now I was sick, too.  This guy needed to be caught – and fast.   Our monthly shelter meeting was that night.  So Younger and I started making our plans.  She would come home.  We would load my trap and go into town early.

When we left home and headed to town, Younger told me she had actually seen that dog once on her way home from work.  He was quite a distance away as she drove by the wooded area and over the railroad tracks.  She said she remembered thinking that whoever let their dog run loose should think about the tracks and the busy highway only a few hundred feet away.  She vowed to watch for the dog during future trips.  She hadn’t seen him again.  Until            today . . .  when she and her sister tried to get him. 

We reached the location, and pulled off the road.   We trudged down a bank and towards the wooded area.  We would set the trap near the edge of the woods, away from the road, hoping the smell of the cat food would lure him to it.  We climbed back up the bank and headed on to town.  We would pick up Older Daughter when she got off work, get a bite to eat, and then drive out to the location to check our trap.  It had been set about an hour the first time we checked.  No dog.  We talked about what a cold night it was and that we’d hate for him to be in that trap for very long.  But we left the trap set and went back to town for our meeting.  After the meeting, Younger and I would drop Older at the shelter.  She would wait to hear from us.  If we had our dog, she would set up a spot for him.  We’d bring him to town and Older could check him for severity of injury and we would make some decisions.

Unfortunately, when Younger and I made our way down the bank (in the pitch black darkness) to our trap, it was empty.  So we loaded it up and texted Older that she could lock up and leave.  On the way home, Younger and I discussed how desperate we felt with this injured lab out there somewhere on his own.  Younger said they’d been unable to get a great look at him, but that he’d appeared really thin. 

The next day, Older talked to the county animal control officer again.  He would go back to the location and take his dart gun.  Older was happy with this because he clearly needed to have his injury treated.  However, the officer didn’t see the dog that day.  Or the next.  Older, Younger, and Husband all travel that way every day.  They were each on the lookout with every trip.  But nothing.  The dog had disappeared.  Our fear was that he had moved from that area after the several encounters with humans.  That was a nightmare because nobody knew how extensive his injuries were.  Days went by with no sighting.  We talked about him every day.  Then a day came when we all realized that he’d probably died somewhere in those woods. 

None of us drove past that location without thinking of our yellow lab.  The girls said he’d looked young.  He was thin.  And he had sustained some type of injury – gunshot, hit by a car?  How sad that we hadn’t been able to get him, provide treatment, and give him a chance at a good life.  We were all heartbroken.

On December 19, Older received a call from the county animal control officer.  I’ve got the yellow lab – he said.  Older didn’t even register what that meant.  She said – The yellow lab?  And he explained that someone had called to report a dog that had come onto their property, sleeping on their dog’s bedding and eating their dog’s food.  The animal control officer showed up to get the dog and there he was – the injured yellow lab.  My daughters texted me immediately.  We were all completely overjoyed.  It was just a few days before Christmas, and we felt like this was a Christmas gift to us.

This guy received a name – Chance.  And Chance was seen by a vet.  The injury was to the right shoulder, with complete nerve damage to the right paw.  But he was getting around just fine on three legs.  I told my daughters that I would have to come by the shelter to see our wonderful boy.  I felt like I had invested a great deal of emotion in him.  And then something really nice happened.  I received a call from someone who was scheduled to board with me for the Christmas holiday.  Her brother no longer needed the run he had reserved.  That left me with a vacant run for Christmas.  I called the people on my waiting list but everyone had made other plans.  At the very same time, the shelter ended up with four dogs who needed the only space that was available.  There were five dogs for four spots.  Chance would need to come to me.  The spot was there just waiting for him.  He stayed with me through the holidays and has now returned to the shelter where we are all hoping he will be seen and Chosen for Adoption.  Now here he is.  Meet Chance.

 

 

What a happy ending!

 

Before I go - last week I showed you a picture of Wisher Bojangles in his Forever Home.  When Alyssa sent the picture, it was with an email saying that they would be sending a gift to Winnie’s Wish in honor of Bobo’s Gotcha Day (which was December 27).  Well, here it is. Wow!

 

Alyssa and Family – THANK YOU.

 

And then yesterday a gift arrived with this note – Happy New Year to the Wishers!

 

June – THANK YOU.

 

I’ll see you next week.  I should be able to share pictures with you of Silly Whim and Arthur.  They will be back with me this Thursday.

 

Comments

[Random Felines]

Welcome Chance. We are so glad no one gave up

[The Poupounette Gang]

What a sweetheart Chance is! What is the prognosis on the injured leg? Is it likely to heal with time?

[Andrea and the Celestial Kitties]

Oh thank goodness he was finally caught! and he seems so friendly! What a happy boy! I hope he gets a wonderful home soon!

Speaking of homes... there are SO many wishers who need a home and soon! Please, share and help find homes for these wonderful kitties! Pick one or two from the sidebar, click the picture, share their page on facebook or twitter or wherever you do social media! Ask your friends to share because you never know who will know the perfect home for one of these kitties!!!

Yay for wish list gifts! It's still close to new years, anyone want to help them ring in the new year with food or litter or other wish list items? Or maybe make a donation! Thank you!!

[Maria in FL]

Oh, look at that sweet, lucky boy!! He's so adorable! Hopefully a wonderful family will want to bring him into their home!!

[Ginny @ the Fur Family]

I have been computer less for days - Some one trashed mine during the night. Office depot had never seen one that was so bad - bought used computer of the net and so for now I am showing up under their name - till I figure how to change to mine. So glad to see that you caught Theo and all is well there and the black cat looks like he is doing well also. The cold is coming again and they will be safe and warm. Snow is on its way over the week end so the sweet ones will be safe. Nice gifts to the wishers. Ginny @ the Fur Family

[Ginny @ the Fur Family]

Chance is looking fine also - Thanks for being so diligent in trying to catch him -it paid off. Wonderful looking dog.

[meowmeowmans]

What a wonderful story. We are glad that there is indeed a Chance, and that you and your daughters (and the animal control officer and the shelter) have given him a chance at a happily ever after. <3