Let's Go Home

Saturday, October 4, 2008
This is the Feastday of St. Francis of Assisi, another animal lover and today, I was fortunate enough to adopt my beautiful new "love in a dog suit".......Bella.

I learned yesterday that there was a female, "senior", German Shepherd at the Memphis Animal Services Shelter and after seeing her picture, and seeing how afraid and desperate she seemed, I agreed to take her. I was told she was heartworm positive but felt that we could handle that.

I arrived at the shelter this morning and after a little while, Bella, the name I gave her, was located. At first she couldn't stand...exhausted, post-op, malnourished and afraid..... and I
litereally had to crawl into the cage and coax her out. We eventually did make it out the door, walking slowly and one of the shelter workers kindly removed the horrible collar that
she was wearing. It had been on so long and was so rusted that we couldn't get it off, so he had to cut it off.

After helping her in the car, I took her straight to my veterinarian. She found that she was not as old as they originally had thought, maybe 3-5, so we settled on 4 and set
her birthday at October 1, 2004.......which happens to be the Feastday of St. Therese of Lisieux....one of my favorite saints and friends. I guess you can tell I'm a Roman Catholic.
It was found that in addition to her heartworms, she has intestinal worms and she was treated for that. She was also given something for pain, fleas and given a good check up. Her
front teeth have been worn down to literally nothing, perhaps from trying to escape either a pen or a chain...we don't know. All in all, the vet felt that with medical treatment, love, food,
and time, Bella should be able to live a good, full life.

She has already met her "little brother" Petie, my Chihuahua, who usually doesn't like other dogs but loves her. She has also met Oliver, my beautiful cat but she was a little bit afraid of
him. It won't take anytime, though, before all three are one big happy family :)

She is a beautiful lady, her name means beautiful in Italian, but right now, the best word I can think of to describe her is just "lost." It is apparent that she has never known human
kindness. Her spirit is completely broken and she doesn't seem to know what affection even is or what she is supposed to do in any given situation or if she is going to be hit in the next
minute...and for what. The more I am with her and see how sweet she is, the more angry I get and I want to lash out at whoever did this to her.

As we went through the day and she was so unsure of what to do and so easily startled, I said to my son...how many times today would she have been hit already? She is afraid of almost
everything, including the horrible collar that had to be cut off of her. As I was taking it to the garbage to throw it away, she ran from me into the other room. It really breaks my heart. All
I can say is God Bless all the Bellas out there who are suffering.

I just don't know what to do with all the anger that is inside of me but I'm going to use it to try to accomplish something good for these innocent angels. So let me just get this out of the way. Whoever did this to her, I truly hope that they are
attacked by ferocious police dogs, most of whom are from the same, noble breed as Bella, and I hope they are neutered by the dogs.......right before they have their jugular veins ripped out. Sorry, but it's what they deserve. No one has the right to do this to a dog, a child,
a woman, an elderly person, a handicapped person or a homeless person. The vulnerable should be respected.

The people who do this kind of thing, do it so that they can
feel "powerful" and gain control over an animal or a person
who is weaker than they and more vulnerable and helpless. I can only hope that they are punished for their evil actions. They are true loosers.

Another thing that I can tell you about Bella is that she is
infinitely patient. Just today she has gone through waking up in a shelter on a cold grate aftersurgery, a ride to the vet's office with a stranger, the check up, medications, a trip to
Petco for a bath...that didn't happen, hunger, pain, one outside bath at home, followed by a shower with a total stranger!......fleas, upset stomach, intestinal worms and heartworms...and she is as sweet as an angel. This is when I know I have to continue to work to accomplish something for these animals so that I can get rid of some of this murderous rage that I feel right now.

The best sight that I have seen all day is a minute ago when I checked on her and she was sleeping so peacefully.......that deep, restful sleep that the exhausted fall into. It made me so
happy to see her at such peace. I could watch her all night. I hope to be able to offer her a lifetime of peace, love and happiness, to let her know what a loving family is and to let
her live without fear.

Love to all who love her and all the animals.
Diane and Bella
October 4, 2008.