Thursday, May 22, 2008

Meet Sara

Gabby and I have been volunteering at the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter. I told Dario, and myself, that this would NOT lead to us having any more pets. I lied. The first day that Gabriella and I went to volunteer, Gabby came home crying because she wanted to adopt a little chihuahua named "Pocket". It was horrible, and I actually talked to Dario after we got home while Gabby was upstairs still crying, and we ended up deciding to adopt him. Well, it turns out that Pocket got adopted the very next day. But since then adopting another pet has been on my mind. It breaks my heart to see all those sweet dogs and cats who need homes and people to love them, and may end up being euthanized if that doesn't happen. The last few days I decided to adopt a pet who needed a home, and I ended up getting a dog not from the shelter, but from a lady who was darn close to having to put this dog into a shelter. This is Sara- She's not the prettiest dog, (notice the pronounced under bite in the 2nd picture!), but she's as sweet as can be. I adopted her from a lady who has way too many pets and wasn't able to take care of her properly. She used to live in the house but had been relegated outside as they acquired more and more pets. The lady said she shaved and bathed her before I picked her up, but I gave her a bath when I brought her home and the tub had a layer of dirt on it still. Also, the hair on the back of her legs where the lady didn't shave well was really matted down, and I had to go back and trim it all by hand. She was so good and just laid there and let me do it. She had fleas when I picked her up(you can see how her front leg is red from her constantly licking and biting and scratching there, and there's more patches and scabs on her body that you can't see). I got a pill at the vet's office that kills all the fleas in 30 minutes, and they were seriously just falling off of her. I picked some right out of her hair as they were dying. She's never been vaccinated and she's not spayed, so that's my first order of business. She has little hanging boobies like she's had puppies recently, but the lady I got her from swears that she hasn't. (I'm quite sure she's lying, but whatever.) In any case, she's in good hands now, and I hope she'll be healthy and happy with us.

PS. If you are thinking of getting a pet, please consider adopting one from your local shelter or rescue group instead of buying one. There are so many animals there that are waiting for a family. Petfinder.com is a great site that will show you animals that are available for adoption in your zip code, both in shelters and in rescue groups.

6 comments:

meleah said...

That's awesome! I have never owned a pet (sometimes Anna thinks she's a dog, but that's a different story) I think it's great that you can take him in your home. Also, I think it's great that you are volunteering at the shelter.

Kristi said...

Congrats on your new family member! How fun! How is she getting along with Chester? Cool cool cool!

Lisa said...

That's great! I think she's adorable - despite the unerbite! :-) How's Chester taking the new addition?

Sheyenne said...

Hi ladies,
Chester's not taking it so well yet. The first couple of days he was scared out of his wits. He was even foaming at the mouth when she got too near. He doesn't want her to sniff him. He's a submissive dog, and she's an alpha female. Chester is slowly getting closer to her, and we've taken them on a bunch of walks together now and they are fine. She growled at him earlier today though when he came up to her crate, so I don't know. We'll give it some time and I hope they can work things out.

Sara said...

Taking Gabby with you to help at the shelter is so awesome. You are setting a great example. As for your new family member- very cool except for her name. I think it will be wierd if I go to your house and say hi to a dog with my name. Oh well... I'll just have to live with it! :)

Tammy said...

You know me and shelter dogs. That is awesome. I think she is way cute. You can't keep adopting dogs to push away your feelings of having babies HAHAHAHAHA LOL