I was driving along in "The Snow Queen" (my Ford Escape) delivering mail wayyyyyy out in the country, when all of a sudden something moved out of the brush in front of me and made me hit the brakes.
A dog had put itself in front of my car deliberately causing me to stop. I leaned out of the window calling to it and trying to get it to move, when I noticed four little puppies emerging from the brush. Now I really had a dilemma. It was raining, so I could not put the dogs in the SUV with the mail and I could not go get help due to the fact that they were under the Snow Queen and in front of the wheels.
I noticed a movement and I saw the Mama dog leaving the scene. I called her name and she looked back with a deep sadness in her eyes. Her puppies did not follow her. She had given them to me. I was thinking, "Oh no you didn't!" and I tried to call Mama back, but she was done. She had raised them until her milk had dried up and knew she could no longer feed them, so she decided that I would make a great Mom.
I was both sad and angry at the same time. I was sad that the dogs had been abandoned out in the middle of nowhere and I was mad because of a human being obviously had the mentality of a toddler. This dog was not fun for them anymore, so they discarded it and moved on to another toy.
I got out of the vehicle and was immediately covered in kisses and mud. I looked around trying to figure out where the pups had come from, but I knew they were strays. I only have four houses in this area to deliver and a whole lot of nothing. These dogs did not belong to any of these homes.
I decided to call "ARFhouse", which stands for Animal Refuge Foundation (They are on my mail route) and see if they could take them in or offer me a suggestion. The phone was answered by a recorder that said they were out taking care of the dogs and they were sorry but the shelter was full. I started leaving a message when Martha the owner of the Foundation answered the phone. She understood my dilemma and without hesitation said she could take them in. I explained to her that I could not bring them. She said she would get the van and come and get them.
Meantime I decided to abandon the Snow Queen and follow Mama, so I could keep an eye on her and get her some help. About a mile up the road one of my neighbors was leaving home when she saw me and the pups and she stopped to offer help. I told her the dilemma and she got out of her vehicle and told me she would babysit the pups while I kept my eye on Mama.
It wasn't long before the "ARFhouse" van rolled up to my rescue and of course the precious little dogs' rescue. Mama dog was so kind, loving, gentle and trusting that she allowed me to pick her up and sit her in the van without a struggle. I think she was very grateful to be shown compassion and human care. We then went back and retrieved the pups and the van quickly rolled away.
I walked about two miles back to where I had abandoned the "Snow Queen" and went on my way delivering mail, but I had the pups in my mind and I had mixed emotions. I had fallen in love with the mother dog. She was unbelievably awesome and I had bonded with her. I have four dogs at my house already, so I knew that I would not be able to take her in.
I got in touch with Martha who said, "Tootsie" and the Pups were doing great and that Tootsie (Mama) was happy there and was making an awesome house dog for her (MARTHA). WOW! Out of all the dogs Martha takes in, she had also bonded with the mother dog. She said "ARFhouse" was trying to find homes for the pups. I tried to thank Martha and she said no thank you was needed as taking care of abused, neglected, abandoned dogs is what she and "ARFhouse" do.
So I decided to help by blogging. Martha said they have plenty of dry food and equipment, but what they really need is canned food and cash donations. So if you really want to give back and donate to a great cause, please visit this site and donate to these wonderful people.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ARFhouse/228476230305
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