This is Sheila, my SPCA save. She was just too precious to pass up...
Back on February 28, my sweetie Molly was hit by a car, most likely one of the kids that fly low up and down the rural street we live on. She was 8, arthritic in the hip, and hadn't been feeling real well before we moved out here to the country. Since we had moved here in January, she had perked up and seemed to be doing better with space to roam and lots of fresh air and sunshine. She liked to lay in our driveway, I guess staking out her territory. She didn't like strange dogs or cats in the yard, and would let us know if anyone drove up. My husband and I had left for only a couple of hours to run some errands, and came home to find her laying next to the house, but alert and wagging her tail, not wanting to walk. I knew something was wrong, so I took her to the vet. The vet was behind that day, but they sedated her and gave her something for the pain until they could x-ray her. When they finally got to her and got her x-rays, they called me back, only for me to find that she'd gone into cardiac arrest, and they were trying to revive her. After I saw the damage on the x-rays (crushed pelvis and femur heads), I knew there was no point in trying to save her. I think that was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I knew it was the right thing. I was devastated. What made it even worse is that we were leaving that evening to spend the weekend with my best friend for the last time before she was shipped out to Iraq. She even cried when I broke the news to her, since she once had a white dog similar to mine that died tragically, so she was partial to my dog.
The whole spring and summer, I didn't even bother to look for another dog. I already had three, one of which was a Rott mix that my husband had brought home as a puppy. He had gotten to the point that he wasn't agreeing with my other two and had behavioral problems, so I decided that I would take him to the SPCA in August to find him a new home. While I was there, a woman came in with the cutest white puppy with brown spots. I fell in love with her at first sight! Come to find out, the woman had found her the night before and taken her to the vet, and had her treated for ringworm, wormed, and her first set of shots. The vet said she was about 6-7 weeks old, probably an Australian Shepherd mix. Apparently, she couldn't keep it so she was going to do the right thing. The SPCA told her that if they took the puppy in, they'd have to put her down because she had ringworm, and that it could potentially spread to the other dogs, and it didn't matter if she'd been seen by the vet and had medicine for it. Both me and the woman were appalled. She went outside to make a phone call, I'm guessing to ask her husband if she couldn't keep her. I get the feeling he said no, because when I was leaving, I saw her going back in, so I stopped her. I told her that I would be glad to take the puppy, since I didn't want to see her put down over something as simple as ringworm--and it was only two small patches! She agreed, and gave me the medicine and papers for her. I was only too glad to thank her!
My husband was kind of iffy with her at first, but I think he misses Molly too, and Sheila has grown on him. He thinks she's a very smart dog, even though she's only 3 months old now. I didn't think I would be able to feel affection for another dog like I did for Molly, but Sheila proved me wrong. She won't take Molly's place, but she's secured her own with her own little special personality. She's just as mischievious as she looks! I get a good laugh at her trying to corral the chickens. :-)
