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Eleanor's Rescue

© Joan C. Fremo

It is Friday morning when I receive the call from the Shelter’s Volunteer. There is a Great Pyrenees, an owner turn in, needing my help. I am told the information the owner has given lists her as six years old, and this stirs that familiar grief and frustration in my heart. What is wrong with these people? How can they just give up a member of their family? Don’t they realize how difficult it will be to place an older Pyr?

The volunteer tells me she is so sweet, tells me she is a love---tells me, “I’m sorry, Joan. She is Heart-Worm positive….” The volunteer is still speaking as I try to get command of my emotions. “And she was so badly matted she had to be shaved…”

I already have six Great Pyrenees fostered in my home, three in GA, and one in AL. My email is filled with “Pyrs in Need”---and as the volunteer continues to speak, I am trying to figure out where to get the funds to care for yet another dog. Put off the oil change in my van yet again, make minimum payments on the credit cards, return the jeans I just purchased?

“I’ll be there”, I tell her, “thank you so much for calling me.” I then call my Vet’s office for the earliest appointment available. She will be seen Monday morning.

This is one of the nicest Shelters I’ve ever visited. Halifax Humane Society, located in Daytona Beach, FL, takes in over 15,000 dogs and cats each year, and is open every day of the week. A big complex of clean, well kept buildings and beautiful grounds. Peacocks wander the manicured grounds. There are volunteers to groom, walk, and socialize the animals---others are there to greet you, and act as adoption counselors.

Everyone I meet at the shelter is so glad to see me. They are grateful that this sweet dog will have a second chance, relieved that this animal, that has touched their hearts, will not be lost. They are all such wonderful and caring people.

I am directed to her kennel, and as I make my way across the grounds I am reminded why I don’t like to visit shelters—even one as lovely as this. I can’t help wondering what the story is for the older Black and White cat that reminds me of one of my own. I try to focus, not see the expectant faces of animals that wait for owners or adopters---most of them will…

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