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Home...at Last! (And a new adopted sister, too!) |
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Wendy and Andy, two
amazing people who have adopted countless senior dogs from A.A.R.F.F.,
came back again. They had recently lost Maya, who they adopted, despite
knowing she had cancer and a limited amount of time to live. (Read their
incredible story of all of the A.A.R.F.F. seniors they've adopted over
the years. Although they have lived through so much grief, they rise
from the depths of despair, to save yet another life (or more!). This time, after Maya died, they waited. Healed. And watched our website. They saw many new faces come and go, but they always kept track of Jack and Rover, two senior black labs who were dumped together, as a senior pair, at an area shelter. It was unlikely anyone would adopt seniors with potential age-related health issues, let alone bring home two. And once they can to Pasado's Safe Haven, we refused to adopt them separately. We thought it would be better that they live out their golden years here, and die together, than be torn apart. Frankly, we never thought they'd find a home. But then again, we sort of forgot about Andy and Wendy... |
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They called one day and
asked if they could come and meet the A.A.R.F.F. crew. And although
their hearts were open to any grey muzzle, we later found out they had a
special place for Jack and Rover. They met, fell in love. And then, they
had to pass the "kitty test". As we always do, we led Jack & Rover,
safely on leashes into Misty's Kitty City. They could care less. They
just wanted to know where their tennis balls went. We were all elated. But the story didn't end there. Veronica, frail, old chocolate had just arrived at A.A.R.F.F. the week before. They just couldn't resist. It didn't take long to decide: Wendy and Andy were bring three home. The one thing that gets us through each day of facing cruelty and heartless people is knowing people like these two. Jack, Rover, and their new girlfriend Veronica are lucky, but Wendy and Andy are OUR tennis balls - they make us wag just thinking about what that house must be like...4 cats, three old coots, and a LOT of smiles. |
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How Andy & Wendy, began their love of grey muzzles... |
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Rescuing senior dogs and
cats came late to Pasado’s Safe Haven. Our mission, from the beginning,
was to help those animals who “fell through the cracks” – those who few
shelters assisted. Certainly farm animals fell under that need. And
bringing aggressive, innovative pet sterilization to the public was
sadly lacking. Passing cruelty laws and prosecuting abuse cases also
required addressing under our mission. And lastly, providing 24 hour
cruelty investigation – a glaring void, since most shelter boards fear
reprisal – either physical threats or more likely, litigation. But over the years, as we worked tirelessly, living up to our mission, we were faced weekly with one story or another of an old cat or dog who had been dumped by their owner at a shelter. And who faced no future, except for euthanasia. Finally, we knew we had to do something. And A.A.R.F.F. was born. Treasure, was the girl who sent us “over the edge”. It was meeting her, at a shelter, laying on a cold, cement floor. Those old bones, so arthritic. It was painful just to see her looking up at us through the fencing in the kennel door. Barking coursed back and forth across the shelter, doors slammed, strange people passed her by without giving her a glance. And she watched. And waited, we were sure, for her beloved master or mistress to return. Only they never did. |
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So Treasure was the dog
who broke our heart. And forced us to take a leap into a new program.
Something not to be taken lightly. We were, and still are, a small
organization by any means. To add another program is like another couple
of ticks on an earthquake scale – the impact is exponential. But looking
at Treasure, made us take that step, and never look back. Wendy and Andy, two amazing Pasado’s supporters, adopted Treasure, who they named Gracie. She didn’t live long, but she lived the best years of her life with them. They gave her birthday parties, and her own stocking at Christmas. She wanted for nothing, especially for love. Wendy's sweetest recollection follows: "I still remember the first time Gracie actually ran across the backyard chasing Andy and the other dogs. It was a joy to behold - and something we never expected!" Then one day Gracie told them she was too tired. That she needed to rest. And they let her wish for peace at last, to come true. It was heart-breaking for Wendy and Andy. It was heart-breaking for us to hear the news. |
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Some people will tell you
after they lose a beloved animal, that they can never, ever go through
that pain again. Wendy and Andy, by those standards, are true
masochists. They allowed themselves time to grieve and then returned to
A.A.R.F.F., now grown into a full-fledged program, with 28 acres of
amazingly beautiful donated land on which to call home. Now there were
heated dog cabins, inhabited by old codgers, big and small. And there
too, was Brandy, a little girl who Pasado’s plucked from euthanasia at a
California shelter. Brandy and Baby, her squatty Korgi sister, came together. Volunteers at the San Diego shelter (see right above) where they temporarily lived, called Pasado’s with a desperate plea: their owner had been killed and her mother had taken the pair. Then she had died. Animal control was called and Brandy and Baby, senior gals themselves, were placed at a municipal shelter. The volunteers told us they faced imminent euthanasia. Would we take them? |
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We put out the word via
e-mail – could anyone donate airmiles to fly them to Washington State?
Within minutes, we had multiple offers. (If you’d like to join our
eAlert List to help safe animals; lives, like Brandy and Baby, please
let us know here.) But the volunteers, who were really the heroes,
decided to drive the girls – all the way up the West Coast, worrying
that flying them would be too stressful. Five days later Brandy and Baby
arrived. We soon learned that the two girls, although friends for years, really didn’t give two hoots about each other. Baby would while most of her days away inside a dog cabin, while Brandy played host to visitors. We noted they never slept together either, which made things easier on us. When two animals come in together, whether they’re chickens, dogs, goats, or cows, we never split them up when adopting them. It makes it harder to find an ideal home, but we can sleep easier at night knowing they’re together, whether here at Pasado’s, or in a new home. Knowing Brandy and Baby could be adopted into separate homes guaranteed that they’d find their new families faster. And they did. |
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Baby found a lovely new mother to care for her and Andy and Wendy, fell in love with Brandy. She moved in to their home, and heart, without missing a beat. Wendy recalls, "She was such a character. Whenever we went for walks she would just charge ahead, always having to be the leader, but then she would keep looking over her shoulder to make sure we were all right behind her. She had a lot of spunk for such an old lady!" Brandy only spent seven months with Wendy, Andy, and their senior crew, until Brandy’s health began to fail. Few people would put themselves through the pain of loving old animals. But we know why they do. If you could see how these dogs and cats come in – sometimes so depressed, then to see them respond to your voice, your touch. You literally see life grow within them. Some dogs we thought were on their last leg – we gave them a few months to live – have come around and ended up living another two years – happy, eating, and loving. One finally died, but with a tennis ball in his mouth. So once again, after the pain of losing Brandy slipped away, Andy and Wendy were back, this time to adopt Maya. Maya was rescued by Pasado's Safe Haven when she had been left at a shelter and was scheduled to be euthanized. She had lived with one woman, all of her life. A woman, who loved her so much. You could just tell. Maya's mistress had been placed in a nursing home when her health failed, and someone, dumped Maya at a shelter. Few people would consider adopting an older dog like her, so she was considered "unadoptable" and readied for euthanasia. Thankfully, Pasado's was alerted and we were able to bring her to A.A.R.F.F.. Andy and Wendy returned to Pasado's Safe Haven for a visit, and fell in love. Maya was soon in their lives - and bed. "I always told Maya how much her old mom had loved her, and that now we would love her just as much. I thought it was important that she remember that," Wendy recalls. Maya lived a life any one of us would envy. She was with Wendy and Andy for a year and eight months. We heard about Maya's passing this week: Dear Pasado Friends...I'm sorry to have to tell you that Maya passed away. Earlier this year she started having seizures and Dr. Larry (and the neurologist who saw her) believed she most likely had a brain tumor. We did not do further diagnosis, as she also had an arrhythmia and no one thought it was a good idea to put her under a general anesthesia. We also discovered she had a large mass on her spleen. Even with all of this, she kept on going, and wagging, for the next several months. Her seizures were pretty well under control, occurring every 2-3 weeks or so, but they were much shorter in duration than at the beginning, and she seemed to recover fairly quickly. One time we had just started our walk in the park when she started to have a seizure. She tried so hard to fight it off, probably thinking she was going to miss her walk, but she couldn't quite do it. It only lasted for 30 seconds or so. We then all just sat on the ground for another twenty minutes or so until she recovered enough that she could stand. We were ready to head right back to the car, but she would have none of that! By gosh, it didn't matter if she kept falling down, she was going for a walk! Of course she was exhausted and we did manage to cut the walk short, but she seemed satisfied that she got her way. We think in the end, the cancer spread to her lungs, as the last week or so she became congested. Antibiotics helped a little, but one night her breathing became more labored, and she just stopped breathing. She had been for a tiny walk just two days before that, and a ride in the car just the day before. I am happy that she got to do the things she loved right up until the end and she didn't suffer too much. She had such a wonderful spirit. Andy and I miss her so much. We only had her for a year and seven months, but is seemed like much longer as she fit right in and felt comfortable with us and the other dogs and kitties immediately. She will always be with us in spirit. I have attached a few pictures. The first big smiley one of her in the car waiting to go for her walk (of course!) was only about 3 weeks before her death, so you can see that she remained full of life until the end. Thank you for saving her life and allowing her to become part of ours. We were blessed to have known and cared for her. Sending love and peace to all at Pasado's, Wendy |
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