Just call us animal rescue!

In April, we loaded up the car and headed south for a much needed mini-vacation. We drove the 6 hours to South Padre Island, which is close to the southern most tip of Texas. We checked into our hotel, and the next morning we found our way to the beach above. It was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. The pic above was taken around 8am.

We stayed at South Padre for 4 days, taking an afternoon trip into Matamoras,Mexico, taking a short tour and doing alittle shopping. The car was packed and ready to go by about 9am, and we took off with Kira and Brian having pretty bad sunburns and alittle tired of being cooped up together. At about 40 miles, going north on highway 77, I spotted something.

The drive was normal and, being Sunday, there were plenty of people on their way to their own destinations. Everyone was quiet and in their own little worlds. As I came to the top of an overpass, on the right shoulder, I spot a small cream colored animal...it's a dog.

I have driven many long roads in my lifetime, but I have never seen such a small dog even close to the highway. What to do, what to do?

John and I both decided we needed to turn around and try to get it before it got run over. This was in the middle of no where, at least 20 miles from the nearest city or town. We take the next exit, turn around and make the loop back to look for it. John and Kira get out, while I man the car, and look for the little thing that only I saw. They climb up to the overpass, nothing. They begin hearing a whining noise, so they climb down, and go under the overpass. That little dog had crossed the highway and gone down the median. Alittle coaxing from Kira, and she was able to get it to come to her. We all get out, and can see that it's a very young puppy. Kira got the puppy in her arms, and we all get back into the car quickly and resume our journey.

Between the four of us, and our limited knowledge, it was easy to tell that this puppy looked to be about 8 weeks old. She was so thin that her dark red skin was hanging from her little bones. Her eyes were swollen, she was infested with fleas and ticks. She had almost no hair, and she had very bad sores on her right ear and left hind leg. I had no idea what could be causing the latter. As you can see in the pictures above, she's not very healthy, and suprisingly she was very comfortable with being held. We all conceeded that someone obviously dumped her out somewhere. I find it hard to believe someone dumped her next to a highway. That would be too cruel. We estimate she had been out in the wild for three to four weeks.

Three days later I had some time off, and took her to the vet. The sores and lack of hair was caused by mites (that explained the rashes we all had!), ie...mange. She was severly dehydrated and malnourished. After several injections and pills, she came back home with us and began her road to recovery.

At one week, and now named "Honey", she begins to get around, is interacting more with our other two dogs, Tom and Jerry, and is eating like crazy.

At two weeks, she is still sleeping most of the time, but has spurts of doing those things puppies are supposed to do, like chew on anything and everything and sneak up and attacking anything that is under 2 feet in height.

John works on trying to teach honey how to walk like a real dog, since she obviously didn't have a teacher, and honey is already taking charge of the situation. :)

Here are Tom and Jerry. They are both cocker mix males we got from the SPCA when they were 2 months old in 1997. John's looking at the Magnolia tree we transplanted into our backyard. We later find out that it's being watered plenty without our knowledge. :)

This would make the best after picture I could think of, and shows that it is all worth it. This is a happy puppy, only three weeks after being rescued, she's so loving and frisky, bold and daring, and she's been through more than most dogs should ever have to think about. It's worth the itching from the mites, worth the vet expense, just to feel her lean in to a kiss on the cheek. I call her Honeypot. It seems to fit her so well.

And here she is now, just about six months old. We've decided she has some greyhound in her, but no idea how much. She just got spayed last week, just to make sure we do our part. Honey continues to be a joy to be with and we love her dearly.

I would love to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience. Sometimes I can't believe I actually have three dogs now (and a very old cat and a parakeet). As anyone who has animals knows, they are a big responsibility, and I don't take it lightly. Maybe I was cursed by this compassion I feel for animals, but then why do they make me feel so good in return? Let me know what you think.

Pam