I drove into Missoula late last night to pick up Emmy at the airport. She arrived on a Northwest Airlines flight from Minneapolis, and had started her journey earlier in the day in Charlotte, North Carolina. Emmy and I arrived back at the ranch at 1 a.m.
But her trip to the sanctuary really began on April 20, when we received an email about Emmy — then named Keller — from a dedicated rescuer named Mika V. in Asheville, North Carolina. Here are excerpts from Mika’s email:
"Hello Steve and Alayne,
I was so happy when a friend of mine forwarded your website to me! I really need you guys! Three days ago a blind and deaf Catahoula was dropped off at my house by a relative of the original owners. She had saved this dog because the dog (named Keller by me) was in a pen her whole life, living in poop. The pen did not even have a door and needed to be cut open to get her out. Her food was thrown on the poop-covered ground. The owners wanted to have Animal Control pick her up, but AC said they would put down Keller because of her disabilities, and that’s when the niece stepped in and started an email campaign to find a foster. And here I am.
When she arrived she was understandably TERRIFIED. She wouldn’t come out of her crate and was shaking like a leaf. She was so pathetic, she crawled around on her belly when she left the crate (not often.) I wanted to cry every time I saw her. Of course I am being as loving and calming as I can with her and she’s licking my hands. Just ate a wee bit and drank.
She is sweet as pie, so sweet she lets me pick her up when she is too scared to walk, and she licks my hands and burrows into my lap to be closer. Poor girl. I have been leading her around with the leash and my hand in front of her nose so she knows it’s me.
She is the most docile dog ever. She has all the reason in the world to be non-trusting, and leave it to a dog….. she is the sweetest natured zen dog ever.
I need help! I am not an expert at rescuing blind and deaf dogs. I have no idea how to train her. Do you guys have room for one more? I would really like her to go to you, you seem to have such a nice place, small enough for her to get some individual attention."
Well, after a flurry of emails and calls, we agreed to take her. Mika arranged and paid for the dog’s flight to Montana. This is the crate Emmy arrived in.
Kathryn and Beth suggested naming her Emmy today, and Alayne agreed. (As the only guy here, I find the wisest course of action is simply to agree to whatever they collectively decide.)
Emmy is every bit as sweet as Mika said she was. She has definitely come out of her shell, and even last night she was ready to plow into a late supper before I put her to bed.
It turns out that Emmy has some hearing, although just how much we can’t quite tell. Mika had noticed her beginning to respond to some sounds. It looks like she has no eyeballs … they’re just white inside, which remind us of our own blind and deaf Spinner, but Emmy’s eyes aren’t quite the same.
She’s now staying in our new welcome center for her two-week isolation. (This is the former cat house — we moved the cats to another cottage and converted the building to a welcome center for visitors.) That’s where I took the first photo. During the day she has an outdoor enclosure to enjoy, which is where I took this last photo of her late this afternoon.
Thanks to a wonderful and generous soul like Mika, sweet Emmy gets to enjoy a new life at the sanctuary.
(Click on photos for larger image.)
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