A New Friend

Well, I'm a little late blogging today.  Want to know why?  It was a very eventful day.  Indeed, a very eventful day.

You see, I was sitting in class on campus when all of the sudden, the power went out.  Hmm... okay.  Class dismissed.  After exiting the building in the thunderstorm, we learned the entire campus and nearby hospitals were out of power as well!  Wow!  This is as exciting as I like it to get when I'm at school.  Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day, so I was of course extremely happy about this.

I decided to leave campus and head over to my parents house, even though they weren't home.  I was going to go over there and hang out at their house and wait for them to get there, and I'd get to spend some time with Belle and Mitzi (my pup and theirs), while also hopefully meeting their new next-door neighbor (more on that later).

When I went to get on the interstate, a police officer directed me in another direction, not allowing me to get on the interstate.  I was born and raised in these parts of Florida, so back roads were my best friend.  No problemo.  As I pulled up to the stoplight (where the cop was) it turned red.  What did I do?  I stopped of course.  What I didn't expect was this: the cop to yell at me!  He bent down so he could see in my car and yelled "GO!" so I looked at the light, looked back at him, and he flagged me to move on, with an angry look on his face.  I slowly went through the red light, only to see all of the cars behind me completely stopped, and cars coming at me from other angles because of other officers directing them!  Thankfully, there weren't any close calls and I made it out just fine, knowing that the officer had a little hiccup in his planning.  As I got down the hill, all of the cars were coming to a slow down.  Traffic, traffic.  I slowly made my way over the hill and I saw a dog run in between cars.  Oh my gosh!

Here's what's interesting to me: lately I have had the feeling that I was going to find an animal on the side of the road, and it was my job to rescue it.  I brushed the feeling off because as much of an animal lover as I am, I was always cautious helping strays/ lost animals because of their tempers and/ or diseases.  But this guy was different.  I immediately pulled over into an abandoned parking lot.  Cars were backed up on my side of the street, so I figured if something were to happen to me, there would be plenty of people to call the ambulance for me.  (Am I too paranoid?)  I was trying to decide if I should help this poor dog or not, who somehow had managed to not get hit by a car, yet.  As I was sitting there trying to decide, he came up to my car and sat outside of my window.  He sat there and stared at me.  Break. my. heart.  I just knew this boy was a sweetheart when those eyes made contact with mine.

I got out of my car, still in the pouring rain and I bent down for the boy to come to me.  He came over, with his tail down but slightly wagging as if he were afraid but wanting someone to trust.  I went and cleared out my trunk (I drive an SUV) and I patted the back of it for him to jump in.  He looked at me as though he was always taught to not take rides with strangers, and then ever so hesitantly put his front feet on the back of my SUV.  "C'mon boy, hop up..."  I kept trying to coax him.  There he stood, on his hind legs, just looking at me.  I looked him over and noticed a good size hole in his ear like he had been either attacked by a larger animal or shot with a BB gun.  Again, break. my. heart.

He stood there for another few seconds and I kept offering him a seat in my car.  He looked up at me as if to say, "I want to, but I can't."  (Yes, I speak doggy.  Don't you?)  So, I gently slid my hand down his back and under his stomach to give him a boost into my car.  He didn't seem tense, and he didn't make any signs of fear or threat toward me, so I helped him in.  He quickly laid down and closed his eyes.  Yet again, my heart.  What a sweet sweet boy.

I got in my car and started driving down the road.  I called my vet who has always taken care of my own babies and asked if they can help me with him.  They said that I would have to be financially responsible for him, but I told them there was just no way that I could do that right now.  I'm a student and we're living off of one income right now.  I informed my vet that this guy was melting my heart and if I could please bring him to them to make sure he's okay, I'd do my best to find either his owner, or a new one for him.  They agreed that they would take him for me.

The whole way in the car, I would look in my rearview mirror and see this:

From Something That We Do

Excuse the mess in my backseat, everything that was in my trunk had to come forward.

When we arrived to the vet's office, my new pal hopped out of my car and walked with me as I called him.  I opened the door to the vet's office for him and he halted.  Froze in his tracks.  Not gonna budge.  No, sir, not him.  Gonna stay right where he was.  I quickly grabbed his collar and hollered for some assistance in the vet's office.  A guy popped his head around the corner and asked if I was okay.  I told him that I was indeed okay, but this dog, who did not belong to me, would not walk in with me.  He chuckled.  The man was very quick to help and told me it was very nice to stop to save a life.  As me and my new friend walked in, we were met with a bunch of people asking us questions.  "Where did you find him?  Is he injured?  Will you pay for him?  What do you want us to do with him?  Will you come pick him up?......"  I answered all of their questions and then asked if I could call and check on him to see if they were able to find an owner.

Of course, they told me I was more than welcome to call and check on him, and come and visit him.  I think I might go do that, tomorrow.  I asked who I should speak with when I called, since we don't know this guy's name.  They told me to name him.  Uh oh.... I'm getting more and more attached!

"Well, I've been calling him Buddy the whole way here since I don't know what his name is, so I guess you can write that down."  I thought to myself, if we kept him, we'd have a Buddy and a Belle.  How cute!  I stayed there talking to Buddy while the assistants filled out paperwork.  I knelt down on one knee next to Buddy, and he softly laid his head on my knees and shut his eyes.  Bless this boy's heart!  He has been through a lot, and he made me feel so loved.

I told the vet that if they couldn't find a home, I would temporarily take him and find him a home.  I've considered keeping him but there's one thing that is holding me back.  I think he has part pit bull in him.  I've always been so cautious around pit bulls because of their reputation to completely turn in a heartbeat.  Especially around children and other small animals.  Which we have both of in our home.  There's no way I'm putting my family in danger, but this guy just melted my heart.  Part of me hopes we find his owner, but the other part of me feels that they no longer deserve him because of his injuries and the way roaming around looking scared.  It makes me worried that he isn't well taken care of.

Look at him, isn't he sweet looking?  Keep in mind though, he is extremely muddy and the hole in his ear is sort of showing here.  But, here's Buddy.  

From Something That We Do

I'll start hunting around on Craigslist and the newspaper for a lost dog.  I'll keep you updated!