BABY RUTH AND THE PSYCHIC

I met Baby Ruth who lived in the Hunt Club described in my last post. Her owners were a delightful couple that had several dogs, three horses, white peacocks and a fawn they were raising whose mother had been killed. Visiting their home was like going to a small petting zoo.

I know you have met people whom you have secretly hoped that if you had to come back to earth as an animal, they would get you. That was how I felt about Mary and her husband Dexter. While giving excellent care and love, they let their animals be animals. Something I sometimes forget.

Baby Ruth was a Shetland Sheepdog (a tiny Lassie looking dog) maybe 14 inches tall and about 15 pounds.

Picture not mine nor of Baby Ruth but looks just like her.

She was very smart and definitely the leader of the pack which consisted of much larger Shepherds and Labs. Baby Ruth was a little Diva who had them all whipped. Her owners were a delightful older couple who had helped me many times with my Rescue. Then it came my time to help them.

In 1998, Florida suffered a terrible drought and wild fires scorched the state. Over 1000 wild fires crawled across most of the state. The newscasters referred to us as "Florida in Flames". I lived 20 miles from my work and often as I would be driving home, I would see the smoke spiraling up in the distance and would drive for miles in fear before discovering I still had a home.

One day as I was driving home, the only highway leading to my place was blocked by the police and smoke covered the road for miles. I was told that the Hunt Club woods were on fire and since my home was on the other side, I could not go home. I was frantic wondering just how my animals were doing.

Many hours later, we were allowed to proceed. I barely looked towards the Hunt Club as I hurriedly drove to my place. Luckily, my place was fine, just smoky. I heard on the news that while much of the woods had burned in the Club, not one house was burned. Such a blessing.

The next day however, Baby Ruth's owner came to my gate with tears in her eyes. Baby was missing. They had been shopping in Vero Beach the day of the fire. Baby had evidently used the doggie door to go outside prior to the fire. While all the other animals were safe, she was missing. Mary knew I was good at finding dogs and wanted my help. I owed her and her husband big time and was happy to assist.

I helped put up posters with Baby Ruth's picture on it on every post in a five mile radius. She was offering a $1,000 reward which had everyone in the area looking. Mary even walked through the charred woods looking for Baby's small body. She hired a helicopter to search the miles of the surrounding countryside. I drove and knocked on doors, but no Baby Ruth.

In desperation, Mary called on a famous California psychic for help. I would have been the first to pooh-pooh a psychic, but this was eerie. Mary was desperate and sent one of Baby's collars to California and when the psychic got it she called Mary.

The psychic perfectly described seeing the pines and long, winding dirt roads which led to a paved road. She then described a house, a fenced yard, an older white station wagon and the first 3 digits of a Florida license plate. The psychic then told her the people there knew what happened to Baby Ruth.

Mary followed the psychic's instructions right to the house and station wagon which was about a mile and a half from the entrance to the Hunt Club. The people who lived there denied ever seeing Baby Ruth. Their eyes popped when they heard of the reward, but continued to insist they knew nothing.

I truly wish this had a happy ending but Baby Ruth was never recovered. Somehow I believed the psychic that those people knew where Baby was as the description from across the country was so exact.

Since she was a beautiful , pure bred dog, perhaps they found her and sold her. I could only hope it was not to a puppy mill nor to an experimental lab. Equally horrid scenario would be that she was used as a pit bull sparring partner.

Best case scenario was that a loving person found her on the road, picked her up and gave her a new wonderful home.

What do you think about what the psychic said?