The stray who couldn't stay

Last Monday started the transport week from hell that ended up with the reunion of Sam and Jessie, a GSD/Rottie mix and a GSD.

Monday evening my friend and next-door neighbor called me. "Edie, there's a dog out here that looks lost!" We met in the front yard. Helen grabbed her finest china dish and filled it with water for our guest, a huge old yellow lab that was as sweet as could be. I found out later that he had been wandering the neighborhood all day, which would explain how tired and dehydrated he looked. It's been in the mid-90's every day here.

He willingly jumped into my car Helen and I drove him through the neighborhood asking everyone who was out if they recognized him. No one did. We did learn that he had apparently been dumped in our neighborhood. Back at my house, we tried to keep him in the laundry room but he kept knocking down the baby gate. He just wanted to be where we were. Our girls Casey and Noir were not thrilled with him being in the house. I think they were intimidated by his size, about 85 pounds.

I took some photos of him and started blasting emails around to see if anyone could hold him while I trid to find his owner, in case there was an owner. I couldn't get an appointment at our vet's office until Wednesday. Mari and I were on our second transport of the week when we got the call from the vet that he had a microchip. They gave us the 2 numbers, both of which were no longer in service. We figured we could find a good home for him in Charlotte, a lot of people were responding to the email blast.

You can imagine how puzzled I was that afternoon when I called the vet to see if he was ready to be picked up and they said they were waiting to hear back from his owner! Apparently they tried changing the area code and got a hold of someone who used to own the dog. We also found out his name: "Clyde".

Several phone calls later, we were in touch with the owner. She was not a pleasant person, but insisted she wanted the dog back. We explained that our rescue organization had incurred some vet and boarding expenses and we would like to be reimbursed. She waited a day and a half then told us it would be a "hardship" to come up with the money. A board member of our group decided to let her have the dog back when she promised to make payments to pay it back. Of couse everyone knows she has no intention of doing it.

Finally Friday came and I arranged with her to meet at the vet's office (though the office was closed) so she could get Clyde. When I got there, her boyfriend was already there. He got right in my face and tried to intimidate me. She came flying in, nearly hit my car, and could not have been ruder to me. No thank you, no nothing. Poor Clyde slowly got out of my car and shot me a look. He didn't wag his tail once when he saw her. She insinuated that his ear infection started while I had him, and said he gets goomed every other week. I also noticed she was driving a late model Tahoe, so apparently she wasn't as strapped for cash as she claimed if she can drive a car like that and [ay from grooming twice a month..

I could've cried. I feel like I sent him back to a life outside on a chain in this heat. That's probably why he slipped out of his collar and ran away in the first place.

So I did the right thing, which felt very much like the wrong thing. I can't get this big old guy off my mind. I only hope he manages to slip away and find me again. The outcome will likely be different.