After all, my girls, Velvet and Jane Doe, were troubled dogs who I rescued and have had the pleasure of calling my pets for years now. They're a constant reminder of the value of taking in stray or unwanted pets.
The other day, another dog in need came my way. He's blind and angry, and I'm not even sure if he's a he or a she. Something happened to his eye, perhaps both eyes, and I found him running around in the middle of four-lane, forty-mile-per-hour Swan Road. Cars were screeching to a halt to avoid hitting him and when they stopped, he would run around and bump into them. I tried to steer him away from the road but hesitated at first because he growled and got rather nasty with me when I tried to get close to him. After watching the traffic cycle repeat itself a couple of times, I knew I couldn't in good conscience leave him out there either to get killed or cause a motorist or two to get killed.
I went back to my house, grapped a soft tarp, and went back to the road, where I corralled the dog inside the tarp. Back at the house, I brought out an old folding door that had been removed from a closet and put it in the front yard, on top of the tarp, folded to make a lean-to for the dog. An old window screen on the end made for a screen door of sorts and I took a small space heater out to the other end and plugged it into an outdoor outlet. I've been feeding him and giving him some water to hold him until I take him to the pet emergency room for treatment.
I'd like to share with you a couple of great resources that I found for getting rescued pets the triage they need while they await foster care or adoption. I haven't yet chosen which one I'll go to, but here's what I've found so far:
Southern Arizona Veterinary
141 E. Fort Lowell Rd. (24-hour emergency room)
Tucson, AZ 85705
(520) 888-3177
www.southernazvets.com
Pima Pet Clinic
4832 E. Speedway Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85712
(520) 327-5624
www.tucsonveterinaryhospital.com
I'll be deciding on one of these tonight and I'll post another blog entry with the conclusion of this story.
Exist Kind explores all the ways we could, can, and do exist more harmoniously with each other and our environment. A friend of ours once mused that the phrase "Exist Kind" is a term to be used in place of "mankind" so as to represent the value of all of existence. contact me at existkind@aim.com.
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