I first learned about Bailey (who was named by animal control as Zion) and Bella from an animal rescue e-mail distribution list I've been on for a long time. I'm sad to admit it, but for as long as I could remember, I just deleted the dozens and dozens of e-mails I got on a daily basis. Still not sure what it was, but something made me click on this e-mail and read the story. Fate, I guess. When I saw that face of Bella, pitiful, sad and emaciated Bella, my heart was in it. Sadly (but perhaps fortunately), Bella was surrendered by her owner after a neighbor called animal control to complain about how emaciated she was. The owner said, "I don't see anything wrong with her boneyness. She probably has worms." After learning what it would take to nurse her back to health, the owner said, "Just take her." Owner surrenders to animal control are often stories with sad endings and this was almost one of them.
I replied to the e-mail which asked for a an "approved" foster or rescue home to urgently help and just said, "I want to help, what do I do?" Minutes later, I got a call from Lori. Time was of the essence and the clock was ticking. What I didn't realize at the time was that there were two dogs. Yes, two! I had to make a decision fast and I just remember telling Lori, "Let's do it, let's get them out and we'll give it a shot." The rest of the night was a blur. For some reason, my heart was so heavy. I was very excited, but terribly worried. I didn't know how sick the babies were, how long it would take or if we could even nurse them back to health. I was told they weren't "adoptable" at that point because they were too emaciated. What had I done??
The next day, Lori brought them to my mom's house and Bella just jumped out of the car, so happy and friendly, but it was almost hard to look at her. I immediately welled up with tears, yet was so happy to see her. Bailey was a different story. He was lying in the back seat and wouldn't even hardly look up. We had to pick him up and carry him into the house. He was so scared. Actually, we bypassed the house and went straight to the backyard where we bathed them and clipped their nails (well my mom did most of the work while I stood on the sidelines in a bit of a frozen state). They were so good and well behaved. The rest of the day was spent getting them set up and acclimated to their new space. Bailey wouldn't even walk through the door into the house at first. We just had to leave the door open and wait for him to do it on his own. Once we got past that hurdle, we couldn't get him to walk through the door to get outside. Before we knew it though, he was going in and out on his own. He's a smart cookie, just not as bold or quick as Bella.
So much to say and so many details to share! I have to stop and give a huge thank you to my mom who has made this experience possible. I'm in a tiny condo and could never have brought these dogs here. Mom and I talk about 5 times a day and we profusely tell each other "thank you". I find it funny that she's thanking me, when she's the one who is taking the bulk of the responsibility of caring for them on a daily basis. I'm at work during the day, so can't let them in and out all day long and feed them every 4 hours, so mom has been absolutely crucial to this experience. She's gone above and beyond to care for these babies and I will continue to thank her every day and in my eyes, it will still never be enough. Thank you mom!
Quick Reply: You are so welcome, it is my privilege and pleasure to be part of this with you! Mom..
I'll end this post with saying that this has been an incredible journey so far. While it's only been 3 weeks, it almost feels longer. Not in a bad way, but because we've learned so much along the way. We didn't even know what we didn't know. It has not been easy, but has been amazing and I'm so grateful that I didn't turn my cheek to them. They just needed a second chance and I'm very proud of our family for stepping up to the plate and taking this on. While this was "my deal" as my mom calls it, it has without a doubt, been a family effort and will continue to be. It's so much fun to watch them progress as quickly as they have. I look forward to watching them get stronger and stronger and hopefully into their forever home as soon as possible. We are unable to keep them permanently and we brought them in knowing they would only be with us temporarily until they got strong and ready for adoption and amazingly, they're pretty much at that point. Just a few more things to get through. Bella needs to put on a little more weight and they both get fixed this weekend. Then, we'll start to more actively look for their new and permanent home. We know it will be another adjustment for them (and of course it will be for us too), but they deserve to start settling into their forever home and getting the love and attention (and yummy food) that unfortunately they have missed out on for so long. My heart is heavy as I've already fallen in love with them, but it brings me great peace to know that someone is going to be very lucky to have these new babies join their family.
We look forward to continuing the story and are grateful that you're sharing along in the journey with us! Lots more info and pictures to come.
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