Who Rescued Who?

Just a few weeks ago, a young female golden retriever mix waited inside the kennel of a rural high-kill shelter.  Her puppies had recently been weaned and pulled from the shelter by a rescue and were safe in a foster home.  The mother dog was left behind.  If no one adopted her before her time was up, she faced certain death, not because of any crime she had committed – simply because the shelter had to make room.

The shelter staff alerted their network of rescues, hoping that someone would be able to pull her from the shelter before it was her day to be euthanized.  Six hours away, the director of a Northern Virginia rescue saw the plea for help, and although her facility was quite full, felt that familiar tug at her heartstrings.  She read the description of the dog and looked at the photo and just knew she would be a perfect family pet.  She had just the family in mind.

A nearby family had begun the search for a dog to call their own.  The father was taking care of two young girls, one of whom was autistic, all on his own.  He had lost his wife a couple of years ago.  She was a victim of the deadly H1N1 outbreak.  He thought that a dog would bring some comfort to his girls, and possibly to himself.  He had always been fond of Golden Retrievers.

The animal rescue pulled the golden mix from the shelter and brought her to Virginia.  The dog has since been placed with the family and named Dutchie by the girls.  Dutchie has turned out to be an incredibly sweet dog that is helping the family continue to heal after their devastating loss. 

We talk a lot about how kind and generous it is of people to save a dog from a shelter, but when you hear a story like this, you have to ask yourself – who rescued who?  Dutchie is certainly returning the favor.