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Reprinted from The Sun/Homer Glen, March 22, 2006
How do these guys find me? Or more specifically, how do they find my heart?
I saw a sign in a store window once that said, "Be the kind of person your dog thinks you are." Great saying.
A couple of months ago, I told you about my dog Oreo, an American Staffordshire terrier mix. That's a nice way of saying she is mostly pit bull.
Oreo was found on a farm on a freezing January day near here 10 years ago and brought to TLC Animal Shelter in Homer Glen. Just a puppy, she had been attacked by other animals and had suffered severe trauma to her little face. In fact, when she was brought to the shelter, they found a tooth lodged in her damaged forehead.
Now, of course, she's the queen of her castle. My lovely wife, Penny, insists that I'm still number one, but only as long as I pick up the number two in the backyard.
Oreo isn't our only hard-luck adoption, though. In 1983, we brought in Pugnacious, a small terrier whose owner said that if no one adopted him, he would join his brothers in a burlap bag in a river, a common practice in rural Georgia, where we lived. Pug lived up to his name, biting everyone he met just once; then you were his friend.
A year after Pug's arrival, Penny and I were driving home on I-95 near the Florida-Georgia line. As we made our way down a winding exit ramp into the backwoods, we both noticed a little face looking up over a fallen cypress tree. We pulled over, and with a bit of coaching we were able to get the little dog into the car.
Obviously abandoned in the middle of nowhere, she was covered in mange, fleas, ticks - you name it. Something told us that if we hadn't stopped, this pathetic little girl would be lunch for the gators in the nearby swamps. The local vet couldn't understand why anyone would care about such a sorry dog.
We fixed her up and named her Peaches, and for the next 17 years she was the calmest, most faithful dog we have ever known.
And now, another has found my heart.
In rural Canton, it was the dead of winter. Over a period of two weeks, a stray dog was seen wandering in a nearby field. With no protection from the cold and little, if any, food, the situation did not look promising.
One woman who had seen the dog reported that at one point she witnessed three coyotes approaching the shepherd/sheltie mix and feared the worst. She said the coyotes circled the dog and sniffed it but eventually left it alone.
He was eventually brought to the Fulton County Humane Society, where his luck earned him the Irish name of Sullivan. What was quickly discovered, however, was that Sullivan had a severe case of heartworm and was missing his right eye.
Fulton County does its best to save every animal, but in such a rural area there are too few families and funds to save them all. Sullivan's days appeared numbered.
Back home here at TLC, they regularly scan lists of shelter animals in poor areas that are faced with euthanasia. When Sullivan's picture and story were discovered, TLC knew someone here in our area would step forward, so a volunteer drove down and brought him back.
And now, dear friends, this is where you come in. Sullivan will require surgery to close his right eyelid, and he will need continued heartworm treatment until it is cured. TLC will do everything it can to make this happen, but it will be costly and still will not give Sullivan what he needs most - a home.
To me, this is one of the greatest attributes of TLC - it helps those animals who need it the most first, no questions asked. I can't imagine how hard it must be scanning lists of animals due to be put down only because a home couldn't be found in time, and then only being able to select a few to help.
Sullivan has been spared for a reason. He was noticed in a field in the dead of winter when most animals wouldn't get a second glance for a reason.
Three coyotes, probably hungry themselves, walked away for a reason. Perhaps you are the reason. Perhaps you've been thinking about a companion, a friend. Perhaps you're as turned off as I am by the concept of expensive "designer dogs" with so many Sullivans out there. Perhaps now is the time. Sullivan is ready; are you?
TLC Animal Shelter is at 13016 W. 151st St., between Bell and Parker roads in Homer Glen. For information or other ways to help, call (708) 301-1594.
Questions or comments? Please contact Dave via davedrown@comcast.net.