DORIS AND TWIGGY

The reason I started my animal rescue venture is because when I first moved to Okeechobee, there was no Humane Society, just Animal Control. I witnessed the AC officer actually euthanizing a dog right after he had picked it up. Since there were no holding facilities,there was no such thing as waiting 10 days. We catch, you die seemed to be the procedure.

I was being trained on a route when I witnessed this policy. I saw the officer, pull the leg of a dog he had just captured through the cage doors and give it an injection that sent it limply to the floor of the cage. He then removed the dog and shoved it into a large barrel like container and shut the door. Stunned, I saw the hose run from his exhaust into the container.

I started to rage towards the officer in anger when Precious (my trainer) grabbed my shirt and pinned me. He then told me I could do nothing. It was the law. That was when I decided that if I saw a dog first, I could catch them and give them a chance for reclaiming or adoption. My rescue was founded that day.

Fortunately, not too long after that episode, Doris and her husband Tommy organized the Humane Society in our small town. Between them, they got some land by the local landfill, built some kennels and put "humane" back into dog control.

Doris was a tiny person. I am short but I could have eaten off the top of her head. She was tiny but fierce. I often told her I had to be her friend for I was too scared to be her enemy. She tackled politicians and dog fighters with the same fierce zeal. She truly was a force to be reckoned with.

We worked together for many years. Sometimes she would take my highly adoptable dogs I had found that would get greater exposure in her kennels and I would take her more difficult to adopt animals as I was a no-kill rescue. Doris had about 10 unadoptable dogs herself that she personally kept for that same reason. We kept duplicate records of our charges in case someone was trying to locate their lost dog.

Fortunately Tommy was of like mind and they worked together wonderfully. Unfortunately, he passed quite suddenly of a heart attack, leaving the bulk of the work to her and a huge hole in her life. Doris was not one to live alone. Less than a year after her husband's death, she met a man in church and they married. Chuck however was not the man he portrayed. There was a real mean streak in the man he kept well hidden till after the marriage.

Because marriage vows were important to Doris, she stayed in that marriage way too long. One night she called me in tears. One of Doris's pets was Twiggy who was a small white Chihuahua she had rescued from the Humane Society when no one adopted her. Twiggy was an old dog and most people want puppies or at least young dogs. Chuck hated the little dog and when Doris caught him kicking the small creature, she begged me to take the dog. She was afraid he would kill her.

I agreed immediately and tried to talk Doris into leaving that man but she had no fear for herself. Pretty sure Chuck would have seriously regretted it if he ever tried to hurt her. I think she looked upon him as a "stray" also that she could heal. Unable to talk her into leaving Chuck, I went to get Twiggy. Doris eventually left Chuck about 6 months later but she never asked for Twiggy back. Just as well, by then I was attached.

Not Twiggy but her absolute double.

I really didn't need any pets but since she was so old, I felt I probably wouldn't have to care for her too much longer. She was at least 15 then. My only house pets at that time were my 2.5 pound Chihuahua Sissy and an elderly Pekingese, Snort. Twiggy turned out to be a Miss Congeniality type and my house hold swelled to a compatible three. The outside number was in the 40's.

When Twiggy had originally come into the Humane Society, she had been put in an outside,partially covered metal kennel. One day during a fierce Florida thunder story, there was a nearby lightning strike. Doris said Twiggy had been completely traumatized which was another reason she ended up as her house pet. As a result of that lightning strike, Twiggy could sense a storm 20 miles away and was inconsolable when a storm would approach. She would hide under my recliner half an hour before the first cloud appeared. She was a jam up weather dog.

Holding her and soothing her did not help. The only thing that helped was when I folded the recliner shut and let her stay in her little safe cave. That was the only time the pitiful whining would stop. Sometimes, I actually forgot she was there and wouldn't realize it till I sat down to watch TV in the evening and as I leaned back, out would pop a little white dog, slightly ticked off.

Well, my not-going-to- live long dog fooled us all. She stayed with me for five years reaching the ripe old age of 20. Not too long before she died, she developed pretty severe arthritis. She would be walking across the pasture with me when the disease would cause her front legs to spasm and fold up tightly across her chest. She would crash into a three point landing. She never made a sound or showed signs of pain as I grabbed her legs and forced them gently back into the proper position. Then she would be off again as if nothing had happened.

Twiggy was a grand little lady and I still think about her. Could really use her here in tornado country. Weather dogs have perhaps a greater value than a watch dog.

If you have an animal afraid of storms, don't despair. Just find what brings them the most comfort and heed the warnings. They perform a wonderful function.