Wednesday, April 26, 2017

A Dog's Tale

...started for me, with his tail. His crooked, zig-zag tail.

Still actively mourning our beloved, irreplaceable Larry, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago, we ventured out to Hardywood Brewery's BARK and BrewFest. Families were enjoying the weather with their dogs, and the good people from BARK were there with dogs seeking a forever families and homes.

He-Twin, as has been his way since toddler-dom, immediately began lavishing love on all the pups. She-Twin and I were drawn to a beautiful girl named Stella. Double-Daddy adored Dodi, an older dog with a gentle disposition. Not sure when in the course of our visit Scott (a.k.a. Double Daddy) honed in on a hobbled little fella named Rex. Before too long, we were all enchanted.

Rex had manned the canine "Kissing Booth" earlier in the day, as a fund-raising effort for his pending surgery. Seems the sweet-spirited American bulldog/Beagle/Who-Knows-What-Else mix had been found as a stray in Amelia County---not too far south of RVA---in November 2016. Beset with a heinous case of heartworm, and the femur in his rear right split through by a bullet that ended its trajectory in his left rear ankle, Rex had significant treatment and recuperation to endure before he could be made eligible for adoption. By late March, he was ready. A crowd-funded surgery date was set for April 17th to remove his left ankle-lodged bullet.

As the dedicated volunteers of BARK piled a crated Rex into the van heading back to the farm, he made sure to maintain eye contact...and a smile.

That night, we knew. Paperwork had to be filled out. Rex was destined to be a Lage.

With the graciousness of fellow 7th Street member, good friend, animal advocate extraordinaire, Whitney Walters, the process was set in motion. A crate---actually, two---were borrowed. Our beloved veterinarian, Dr. Michael Zuccaro, provided a glowing reference.

By Saturday, all was in place. Rex was ours, and we were his.
(*And we're pretty sure Larry had something to do with it.)

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1 comment:

Cheryl Allen Salinas said...

What an amazing story, an amazing dog, and an amazing family. I'm sure you're right -- Larry helped this whole process along. Prayers for a swift recovery for that smiley-face.