I had just finished riding my Morgan gelding Sydney and was untacking him when I saw Borzya (my small, female red & white husky) race across the driveway and toward the fence in the arena. My other two dogs Suki (Samoyed) and Chelsey (the big black & white husky) weren’t far behind. Sydney even gave a quick look over. That convinced me to investigate the situation.
As I approached the fence, I saw tails wagging and happy faces. Out behind the fence popped a young Dalmatian. I kept my distance not wanting to frighten him away, but it was too late. Once he saw me, he took off running. I thought, "Just another sad stray in the field." There are so many stray animals running loose in this county that it is not uncommon to see them often. It makes me sad and angry that human beings can be so heartless and cruel to leave a poor animal to fend for themselves.
What I saw next was unbearable. The young Dalmatian could only run on three legs. I could just make out some cuts on his rear hind leg. That was it, I thought. "Someone has got to care about these poor lost souls," I said to myself. I ran into the house and gathered up a leash and a doggie cookie to lure him with. I went out into the field to coax him over. By this time he was laying down in the grass, overcome with pain and exhaustion.
I called to him and kissed to him, but he didn’t move. He never took his eyes off of me. I decided to take a chance and move closer to him, he again got up and ran on three legs just far enough to keep a safe distance away from me and then collapsed to the ground again. Now I was really concerned. I could see from his face that he wasn’t more than one or two years old. At that point I knew that he was probably not going to let me catch him and he might bite if I tried.
I decided to walk away from him to see if he might follow. I walked to edge of the fence line and bent down to pet my own dogs through the fence to show him that I meant him no harm. But when I turned to look back, he had moved further away. I gave the cookie to my dogs and gave up- for the moment.
The thought of leaving this poor animal all alone in the field to die was more than I could take. I just could not do another thing until I did everything I could to help him. I was torn at what to do next because it was a work day for me and I needed to get to work. Going after the dog could take time. But his little face stuck in my mind and his inability to get up made it impossible for me to concentrate on anything else.
My husband and I work at home so he was home at the time and I came in the house to tell him the situation. He said, "I have a 2:00 deadline (it was 11:00 a.m.), I can’t leave now." But he knows me so well and he knew that if we didn’t do all that we could to help we would both feel miserable. He grabbed his keys and helped to gather up the leash, binoculars, and a few other things that are needed for a rescue. We drove over to where I thought I had seen him. The brush was so high in the field that he was not visible. Both of us went over and over the area with the binoculars but had no luck. My husband turned to me and said, "He’s not out there, I have to get back." He shrugged and got back into the car.
As we drove back, I tried frantically to see him. Something inside of me told me that he was dying out there in that field all alone. He had no water, and no one to care. The images kept coming up in my mind and I couldn’t get them out of my thoughts. I said to myself, "His death is only one possible outcome, but it doesn’t have to end that way." There could be someone out there with the power to save his life." I realized that that someone had to be me, because there wasn’t anyone else. I decided I would have to be the one to step up and take responsibility if he was to survive.
When my husband and I pulled up to the driveway I told him that I was going to go back out for another look. He thought it was a good idea to keep the car outside the locked gate, just in case the Dalmatian came back. But I knew the dog was too frightened to come back on his own. I was so caught up in getting him to safety, that I didn’t think the rescue through very clearly. I didn’t want to bother my husband about it anymore because I knew he had to concentrate on his work. Since there was no way that I could catch the dog on my own, I decided to bring Borzya to help me with the rescue. She is a level headed husky dog and can keep calm in an emergency. I also knew that she wouldn’t get overly excited when she saw him and would not frighten him away. I put her to work and we set off out into the field.
I quickly realized that I should have brought some water, and geez, the weeds were taller than I thought. I was soon covered in stickers and Borzya was sneezing like crazy. I forgot that she had a terrible allergy to the grasses out there. Still, we forged on, forgetting our own needs and thinking only of the job ahead. Despite Borzya’s sneezing fits, she kept on going as I had asked her to. After about ten minutes we had gone into the thick of the brush and still no sign of the lost Dalmatian. I kept on calling to him in a loving way so that we wouldn’t frighten him. After awhile longer, and more allergy fits from my poor husky, I figured it was hopeless. I hadn’t given up, my next plan was to call the fire department and see if they could help.
Just then I saw a little spotted face in the brush. Its little eyes were frightened and sad. It was him, the little Dalmatian!! My heart jumped for joy and I stopped Borzya and we sat very quietly for a moment. I didn’t want to risk losing him now. I did do one smart thing and that was put Borzya on the retractable leash that went out 15 feet. I let her go to him and told her to be gentle. She walked over to him softly and nudged his face. He instantly perked up. The fear in his eyes that was there earlier had lessened. After several minutes of her greeting him and assuring him, I approached him cautiously.
He looked a little nervous as I came forward, but he was in too much pain to get up. Then suddenly, he leapt up as if it was all he could muster and landed right at my feet. He lay his head against my legs and buried his face in my shins. I caressed his head and told him he was going to be allright. I placed the leash around his head and he looked up at me with the saddest eyes I had ever seen. I don’t know for sure, but it looked as if he was trying to tell me how horrible it had all been and that he was so relieved to have found a friend. I gave him a hug despite being taught all my life that strange dogs can bite. Somehow I knew that he would not hurt me.
Now that we were bonded, it was time to get him in the car and to the vet immediately. I motioned to my sled dog to get going and tugged on the Dalmatian's neck. He didn’t move, in fact he flopped on the ground and refused to get up. It was at this point that I realized the failings of my rescue. I was out in the middle of a field where no one could see me, I had no water, and more importantly, I had no communications. "Damn" I thought, "Now what?" I had a dog that was possibly badly injured, I was out in the middle of nowhere and I had not a clue how I was going to get all of us out of there.
I had to think of my options. I could leave him there and go and get my husband to help me. The problem was that I was afraid that I would lose the Dalmatian, possibly he would run deeper into the field and we wouldn’t be able to find him. I decided that I was not going to leave him, not after I promised to help him. My next option would be to carry him- an option I did not like because I am a small female and carrying a 55 lb. dog while holding onto a pulling husky is not easy. I crouched down for a minute and petted the Dalmatian. The house looked a thousand miles away from us.
I knew that I would have to attempt to carry this dog if I was to get him out of there. I was afraid I would worsen his injury by lifting him though and that was the risk I decided to take. I felt around his hips and his insides to see whether or not it hurt him. As I put my arm under his chest he looked up at me as if to say, "Go ahead, it’s okay." I prepared myself as I grasped onto the retractable leash with Borzya on the other end and hoisted the Dalmatian up. It looked as if he wasn’t going to be too heavy afterall, but after a few yards, he began to really relax and I could feel him slipping out of my arms. I had to stop, he was too heavy. Now what to do?
I tried to stand him up and get him to walk. He would get up for a minute and then flop back down. I was getting frantic now, worrying that this would take so much time and he could be really sick. I squatted down and put my arms underneath him and signaled to Borzya to wait. I asked God to give me the strength I needed to get this dog to safety. I lifted him up and Borzya started to pull so hard on the leash that I thought I would drop him. I moved forward as fast as I could to get as far as I had the strength to go until I had to put him back down. Well, we were getting closer.
The house was coming into view a bit more now. I was huffing and puffing and I could feel my face burning in the sun. I thought maybe if I make noise Suki and Chelsey will hear me and bark or howl. That will alert my husband and he will come to our rescue. Now it was all of us that needed rescuing!
I began to howl loudly, trying to get my husky to chime in with me so that the others would hear us. She refused to help. I howled as loud as I could and then I noticed the Dalmatian. His ears were up and he was alert. Somehow my howling sparked some ancient instinct inside of him and he at once knew the seriousness of the situation. He looked up at me like a little soldier and stood up and began moving forward as if to say, "Let’s go captain, I can do it." I was elated, I called out to Borzya to go ahead and she bounded forth and there we went for several yards until, he flopped back down again.
I really thought we had had it that time, but my hopes were dashed. By now I was sweating buckets and the Dalmatian began to choke. I had visions of him choking to death from internal injuries and dying in my arms. I started screaming, "Help, help, help!" I even motioned to some cars passing by. No one saw me or heard me. I knew I had to be strong, I picked him up again and carried him as far as I could. We were almost out of the brush now and in the clearing. My throat was hurting from so much screaming but I knew that if I could alert my Samoyed, she would tell my husband we were out there. I screamed and howled some more. Each time I did this, the Dalmatian would muster a little more strength and move a few feet more.
Finally, we had made it out of the tall brush and all of us dove onto the grass for a rest. I howled one last time in hopes that I would be heard. Suddenly I heard a faint bark, then a loud bark and howl. It was my Samoyed and my husky!! I stared at the house praying that my husband would come outside to see what they were trying to tell him. I saw his feet on the porch and I began raving like a maniac. I screamed and yelled and he came down off the steps looking at me. He said, "Oh, you found him", casually. I felt as though I had just been through a war and had just been discovered by the allies.
I told him to come quickly. We all sat there catching our breath while he went to get the keys to unlock the gate. He came running around the corner towards us and all of a sudden the Dalmatian panicked and began rearing and trying to run away. I thought to myself, "You are not getting the opportunity to run back into that field after what we all just went through." He was terrified of my husband. He thought he was the evil torcherer coming to get us or something. I let go of Borzya for my husband to grab so that I could have both hands to hold onto the Dalmatian. It was no use! He suddenly had the strength of two Dalmatians and the collar was beginning to tighten around his neck. My husband crouched down quietly and said sweet nothings to the frightened Dalmatian and I put my arms around him. He gave up the fight and let my husband carry him back to the house and put him in the back of the car. Whew!!
I put Borzya in the car so that he would feel a little more comfortable on the ride to the vet. My husband bid us good luck, and off we went down the road. Once we began driving the Dalmatian smiled and got excited about going for a ride. What is it about dogs and riding in cars! They just love it, even if they are traumatized.
I took the ‘stray dog’ ,as they insisted on calling him at the veterinary hospital, in to be cared for. They told me he would need x-rays and antibiotics and sedation, and, and.... I kept thinking, how much is this going to drain me for? Every time a thought about the cost came into my mind another thought would come in and override it. The joy of saving a life was far more important to me than the cost. And besides, I actually had just enough to pay for it! I am sure that God made sure of that.
The vet told me that he would call me at 5:00 p.m. and let me know his condition. I finally sat down to work at 1:30 p.m. and it helped take my mind off of the situation until the clock struck 5:00 p.m. I waited to hear from the doctor. I didn’t even feed my horses because I didn’t want to leave the phone. I watched the minutes tick by after 5:00, still no call. My husband came in and I said, "Would you mind feeding the horses, I don’t want to leave the phone in case the doctor calls." He told me he had fed them an hour ago and I should just call them and see what is up.
I took his advice and called the veterinary hospital. The receptionist said that she knew the dog was ready but that the doctor would have to discuss with me what they found. I asked my husband, "Why didn’t they call me about it and discuss what is wrong with him. There must be something wrong with him if they have to discuss it in person, right?" He said, "Why wonder about it, you’ll find out soon enough when we get there, they probably just want to make sure that you’ll pay for it. They probably get burned all the time with stray dogs. People just drop them off and they don’t get paid for taking care of them." I realized the truth in this, regardless of how unpleasant it was. I like to think of my vet as a good samaritan, animal lover who would use his skills to heal and take pain away, with or without payment. Reality is sometimes difficult to swallow.
Sure enough, when I got there, they wanted to make sure I had paid before they told me what was wrong with the ‘stray dog’. I waited until the vet came out before I wrote my check. I was intending to pay for the visit, but I didn’t like the way the situation was so obviously about money. The vet came out and told me that he had found no fractures and no internal injury to the Dalmatian. He said he was in very good condition under the circumstances. The girls who had bathed him kept telling me how much they loved him and what a good, sweet boy he was. They all kept looking at me so strangely, like I was some kind of saint or something.
The
bill was huge, but I was so happy that the Dalmatian was going to be okay. We loaded him
up in the car and happily drove him home. Gheddy (his new name), is still recovering and
has some soft tissue damage that may take awhile to heal. He still whimpers and moans a
little at the pain in his hip, but his eyes are bright and he loves his wicker beddie and
his Nylabone. He sure has won my heart.
Kimberlie Kreitzman