| When it all began... |
| Like all the others before him, Buddy was born a cute, fluffy West Highland White Terrier puppy that someone long ago just had to have! Born with an overbite, Buddy eventually sired a litter of pups. From one of those litters came his son Wally and from that point on, they were always together. For one reason or another, the ones that just had to have them decided they didn't want the two grown terriers. So they were placed into the care of a rescue group to find them a new home where they could live forever and be happy. Soon, they were both placed with a lovely woman who had wonderful daughters that simply adored the boys. For nearly a year life seemed enchanting. But soon, trouble brewed between the husband and wife. Fearing the husband might actually harm the two Westies, with heavy hearts and many tears, she and her daughters relinquished them back into the arms of the rescue group. They felt it was the best thing for the two happy-go-lucky Westies. Placing two Westies together may seem impossible, but soon a truck driver from Elko, Nevada applied to adopt the boys. He was given their history and told that under no circumstances should the boys be let off their leads for they would run. After all, they were terriers. He agreed and finally, it appeared that a forever home for Buddy and Wally had at last been found. Or had it . . . Six weeks later, at the end of June of 2001, around 3:00 a.m., on a Thursday morning, in the Salt Flats of Utah, after promising to love and cherish both dogs, the man from Elko, Nevada stopped the truck he was driving and let them off their leads. Why? We don't know, but what we do know is that Buddy and Wally disappeared into the early morning darkness. Did he call for them? Maybe. Did he bother to search for them? He said he did - but his tracks told a different story. What we do know is that the man from Elko, Nevada simply got back into his truck and drove away, leaving Buddy and Wally alone to fend for themselves. For nearly two days, in the heat of the desert, alone and frightened in a desolate waste land, two little Westies, with their dark shining eyes and happy little faces looked for shelter, for water, for the man from Elko, Nevada, but he was nowhere to be found. A thick blanket of darkness fell across the unforgiving, salt covered land. Buddy and Wally were all alone. |
| Left To Die A Rescuer's Story |
| It's raining here now, and (the original rescuer) was informed it may be too dangerous to get them at this time due to weather. This was her third attempt to drive the 6-7 hrs to get their bodies. I wish they weren't in such an inaccessible place . . . it's supposed rain more and harder tomorrow. I don't think there will ever truly be closure with this, even if we get the bodies, because of the horrible way they died. But with time, there may be some comfort. I'm trying to tell myself that they are nourishing the earth and other wildlife, like we're not allowed to do. I think they are at peace, at least. If I can truly make myself believe that (and I do, in my mind), then I'll eventually be more at peace. Right now it isn't looking very good out there . . . I'm just waiting to see what they decide to do . . . Those are the words of the rescuer who found them within twenty minutes of her search. Twenty minutes was all it took for her to stumble upon the salt encrusted bodies of Wally and Buddy who layed beneath the scorching desert sun, birds circling above, stuck in one of the deserts many bogs. She will never forget the sight. Here is her story told in the E-Mail Messages following that fateful day: My friend and I went to the desert today and found them. It was too late, of course. They were caught in a bog, probably the first day. I couldn't get out to them to get their bodies to give them a decent burial. I was sinking and they were out about 50 feet or more. They were covered very thickly with salt. Two little salt Westies out on the Salt Flats. It's so heartbreaking. I think we were meant to find them. We found them in 20 minutes. We had to go into the area that had a locked gate and a sign warning people not to go in, hazardess waste. We climbed through the gate and got as close to them as we could, but it was no use. We were sinking. If they had been alive, nothing would have kept me from getting them, but they were far beyond our help. If the guy had put out the word the very first day, maybe we could have gotten them. He knew what he was doing. He picked the most godforsaken area he could find. I think he was irritated with them or something. I want to hurt him. The sight of those two little guys out there will haunt me for the rest of my life. We left a tribute and memorial for them. Hopefully someone will learn from this . . . I tried to climb down from the toxic waste road onto the shore, and I was already sinking. A person would sink faster than a small dog. I think they were possibly looking for him, or smelled water, or were just running in a panic because he was gone. It was dark, so they couldn't see any of it. By the time they realized they were in trouble, it was too late. I think they had salt in their nose, eyes, and mouth and did that thing Westies do - scrubbing their face along the ground, which got more salt on them. That would be very painful and they would panic more. The tracks showed that towards the end they were dragging their feet, so they were probably getting weighted down by the mud. Then they tried to come back, and that's when they got stuck . . . We told him that had he stayed he would have found them . . . They were out there for 2 days before he finally tried to call. They were lost at 3 a.m., Thursday morning, he didn't call until Friday night or Saturday! They were in the bog after the toxic waste road. That's why he couldn't see them. But he didn't even go to the toxic waste road to look in the next bog. Sound doesn't carry very well, but if he had gone down there he would have heard them crying. But he didn't even wait for daylight. He just left! By the time he came back to look, they were dead. That first night, he didn't look at all. He called, they didn't come, so he left. He said that he waited for 1 1/2 hours. If that's true, daylight would have come soon, and he could have looked. I don't think he wanted to find them, to tell you the truth, they were probably dead before dark that night. He didn't search at all the night they were lost. He just left them! He said he went back out Thursday morning but couldn't find them. And again on Friday morning, this is when he called rescue and left a message. Rescue called him but he didn't return that call until Saturday morning, by then it was too little, too late. If he had gone straight back out there, he probably could have saved them. The Burial ~ We didn't make it out there and we may not. It was declared an emergency area, because of the weather. Now it will be too wet to get them. I'm hoping it got wet enough for them to sink. No animal would be able to get out there to drag them away, other than birds. If they're gone,they're under the ground. They do have the memorial we left for them, if it is still there. I tried to press charges, but there is no way to prove intent to abandon (and it isn't illegal to be so stupid), so he gets off . . . Only he and the Westies know what truly happened out there that fateful night and if he truly did "just leave them there", in the end,he will answer for it . . . I'm sure of it . . . I wish we could have saved them. |
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| No Man's Land |
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| The Wetlands |
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