Day 145 - Mother' Day

The women who run Vhea's Laundromutt usually have their favorite music playing on the sound system when I take Dash in for his weekly bath on Sunday afternoon. While Marilyn Manson's version of the Eurythmics hit "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" was playing, Dash began howling and making strange bird noises like he usually does whenever I rinse him off. For some reason, Dash's howling was in perfect tune with the music and it sounded like he was singing along. Everyone who was washing their dog started laughing and calling Dash a rock star. My life is really pretty dull, but it's small moments like this that keep life interesting.

Dalmatian Rescue has had terrible luck with our older special needs Dalmatians this month. Last week Henry died and yesterday evening, Wyatt had congestive heart failure and died as well. The animal emergency clinic vets said that Wyatt's heart failure was caused by the severe case of heartworms that he had when he entered the rescue program. Wyatt was an older owner surrender who lived outside for most of his life. We knew he had a bad case of heartworms when we first got him, but everyone thought that the treatment we gave him would be successful. Unfortunately, heartworms can damage the heart so severely that even when the worms are gone, the heart can never fully recover. Wyatt's owner probably knew that Wyatt had heartworms when he surrendered him to an animal shelter. He just didn't want to pay for the treatment. We see this all the time in the rescue world. It's sad, because heartworm disease is very treatable. The medicine is just expensive. I hate seeing people treat their dogs like disposable items when they get sick. Rescue groups like ours face an endless challenge in providing animals who have been cast aside with a second chance. We all do the best we can, but sometimes it just isn't enough.

I was reminded last night that my way of doing things isn't always the best way. Initially, I didn't think that this year's Wine on the Roof fundraiser was going to be as successful as it has been in previous years. I was wrong. Even though this year's event planners had some very different ideas, they managed to orchestrate the most successful fundraiser in the pet orphanage's history. I definitely need to be more open to new and different ideas. If I'm not careful, I'm going to turn into an animal friendly version of Andy Rooney. Too bad I still found it difficult to admit I was wrong when my mom was still alive. To tell her that she had been right all along would have been the Mother's Day gift she always wanted.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day