THE DOGS OF WINN-DIXIE

A sadder little pup was a yellow mix we named Pumpkin. She, like the Chow-who-wouldn't-walk, was in the frozen far away inside place terrified dogs go. Working with one of the rescuers, we began to make some progress with her and then the rescuer broke some rules and Pumpkin was removed from her care and sent to the next stop on her journey. I think of her often and hope she hasn't burrowed back down deep inside.

Joey's favorite dog of all was Dixie, a big mix, maybe collie/shepherd, who was lucky in the respect that she & her pup (Winnie) had been claimed by two of the rescuers and would be leaving when they did and moving to a nice farm in Ohio. But Dixie's luck ebbed the day her uterus or tissue or something fell out of her vagina and blood started spreading everywhere. Joey was walking her when it happened and there were a chaotic couple of hours while Joey, spattered with blood, held her and the vets decided what could be done -- getting to a full facility clinic was not easy. Finally, they sedated Dixie on the asphalt parking lot and sewed things back up as best they could under the circumstances.

When Dixie awoke and started her campaign to remove her E-collar and get at the stitches, the vets said she must be monitored closely to prevent further trouble, so Joey sat in her crate for many hours on end. A day later, Dixie's rescuers got her to LSU for spaying, permanent repairs and the heartbreaking diagnosis that a cancerous tumor was to blame for the bloody expulsion of tissue. Her rescuers are not giving up on her; Dixie will see that farm.

Even the vets had their favorites and I write this next part hoping that by some miracle someday, somehow, Dr. Tasha from Iowa will see it. And Tasha's friend from vet school who came from Chicago to meet her there. And Dr. Jenn, she'd want to know, too. And Wendy, the holistic vet who gave me the Rescue Remedy® to try.

Of all the withdrawn, shut-down dogs who came in, Dusty, a medium-sized yellow mix had retreated the very farthest into the inaccessible place that a terrified dog goes. Not only had she undergone the usual stress of capture and displacement, but her nose had been injured in the trap. She was as far away as a dog can get, her underside was obviously tender, and we couldn't be sure she wasn't pregnant, as it was impossible to give her a real examination without doing even more psychological damage. As Tasha left, Dusty was what she worried about and she asked me to promise I would look out for her.

Dusty stayed huddled at the back of her crate, dotted with flies, and for three days did not eliminate, walk or eat. Dr. Wendy tried to examine her but Dusty wasn't ready yet. Bob might have tried, I don't remember exactly - I asked one of the vets to try every day. On the third or fourth day, Jenn & I got her out of the crate and Jenn found an infection in the damaged area of her nose. She put her on antibiotics and was able to palpate the abdomen a bit, and although she couldn't feel anything much except an enormously extended bladder, she didn't think she was pregnant. What she did think was that this was a dog that would never make it in a shelter environment. Her immediate prescription was for me to sit and pet her and talk to her and I did that as much as I could in our few spare moments, sitting in the crate and on the old car seat next to her crate. I'd make up little nonsense songs about little yellow dogs having serendipitous and wonderful lives that made ME cry but had little or no effect on Dusty.

And the next day, two wonderful young women from the DC area came in prepared to take out a couple of the neediest cases and Dusty got her miracle. They have my respect forever: almost everyone went for, understandably, the most adoptable. But these two took the one that would never make it if she didn't get out of the shelter. I never got their names but they are large in my personal pantheon of heroes.

Enough remembering for one night . . . .

CONTINUE WITH
IN THE EYE OF THE STORM:
KATRINA "A-TEAM" TRIP HERE