Page 19 - Harnett Life Winter 2018

ing of the organization offering a voice for disabled pets.
All our dogs at Pets with Disabilities are disabled. They
are the dogs that are overlooked because of “the defect”
people see on the outside - people typically aren’t willing
to take the time to see the wagging tail of the deaf dog
chasing the ball across the yard, or the blind dog going up
a flight of stairs to get the treat or hug they know is wait-
ing for them, or the 3-legged dog run like the wind with
their friends in the joy of living.”

I knew that I must get the attention of this special group of
people. Little did I know my email would get a response
within a day from one of the founders of the organization,
Joyce. There were things that she requested before they
would decide on whether to take Sweet Girl with them to
Maryland. So back to the Animal Shelter I go with paper-
possibly just dropped her at the church yard when she work and emails and phone numbers. It took a while be-
started going blind. It was safe to say she was just a bro- cause they were so busy. I was relentless, and they knew
ken spirit. I was not going away until the required work was done. I
was at the shelter, following up on the progress and taking

When I started talking to her she did stand and licked my walks as time allowed during the months she was there. It
hand. I gently closed her kennel door and she lay back was like I was on staff there and allowed to come and go
down. Later in the week I had some free time, so I went to the supply room to get a leash.
back to visit Sweet Girl. This time when I started talking to
her she stood up and wagged her tail. Little did she know During all this time Sweet Girl was beginning to find a
she was about to go for a walk!! I put the leash around her little happiness. It seemed that she knew I was coming
and you could tell it was not her first time on a leash. She back again. She started standing and wagging her body
just started wiggling from the tip of her nose to the tip of when she heard my voice. Our walks were enjoyable for
her curved tail!!!

The walk was nice as she had me running beside her in the
open field. She had a spirit of being free and not afraid as
if she knew the person at the other end of the leash meant
no harm to her. An hour later we go back to the shelter and
I stop outside and sit in a chair to talk to her. She puts her
face in my lap as I tell her our time is up and she must go
back. She listens and as I open the door to take her back
in she stops dead still. I knew she was saying, “No, I don’t
want to go back, please don’t take me back.” At that very
moment she was finished with me. She went back into her
kennel, turned her back and lay down on the floor.
Well that certainly did not go as planned!!!

It continued to weigh on me as if I had a cinder block on
my shoulders. I kept coming home talking about her and
my husband gently reminded me that we did not have the
space for her nor the time to meet her needs.

I started a Google search the following day. Thankfully,
I found an organization called, “Pets with Disabilities.”
Their home page read, “ Pets with Disabilities - the mak-

Harnett Life~ Winter 2018