We take the naming of our danes very seriously around here. Naming rights are given to the volunteer who picks the dog up from the kill shelter and escorts it to one of our rescue vets. Shelter-to-vet transports are tough because you never know what you are going to get: a crazy, bucking bronco of a dane; a dirty, filthy, stinky, vomiting dane; a dane that looks as if it is ready to give birth…and then does…in the backseat of an SUV doing 70MPH down a highway; a dane with bleeding tumors or open sores - almost all are covered in fleas and almost all are a mess. It is a far cry from the cleaned-up, healthy, happy dogs that we hand over to approved adopters. Our shelter-to-vet transporters sacrifice their vehicles (which often look like something from the TV series “CSI”), they sacrifice their clothes (after one particularly bad transport I stood in my driveway, stripped down to my skivvies and tossed my flea and gunk covered jeans and t-shirt in the trash before setting foot inside my house) and, more often than we like to admit, transporters sacrifice their hearts. It is a wonderful feeling to know you have saved a dog from a certain death and it is an equally heartbreaking experience when the dog you helped save does not make it.
So, with all that in mind, I’d like to tell you about Ruby Begonia.
Michelle, the volunteer who transported Ruby, named her after the turkey that won the Great Gobbler Gallop in Cuero, Texas . Our Ruby had a massively broken leg and the injury was so old her muscles had atrophied, causing the bones to be pulled in different directions.
Michelle was confident that with GDRNT’s help, Ruby the Dane would one day run as swiftly as Ruby the turkey. Our Ruby had been discarded, tossed aside, whatever you want to call it – she was not wanted. I know Michelle and I know her love for these dogs and I know that during her transport, Ruby realized she would be cared for. I know Michelle’s calming voice and gentle touch had to be a great relief after Ruby’s days on a concrete floor in a loud, scary shelter.
Our biggest concern was being able to save the mangled leg. Our rescue vet called in for back-up help from a very experienced orthopedic surgeon. We were told that amputation would be likely, but if they could find a way, they would save Ruby’s leg. Little did we know that it was Ruby’s heart that needed help. Toward the end of the surgery, Ruby’s heart stopped. After an unsuccessful attempt at CPR, the surgeon cut her open and massaged her heart with his hands. Unfortunately, nothing worked and the surgical team was not able to bring Ruby back.
These are the worst cases for me – the dogs that haven’t yet known the love of a foster family, the comfort of a warm, soft bed, the feeling of a full belly, the excitement of finding their perfect forever family. I consider myself pretty tough – you have to be when your life revolves around rescue work, otherwise insanity is just around the corner – but my tough façade crumbled today as I thought about Ruby and all the wonderful things she missed out on…and all the pain she suffered through with her long-standing injury. It was just too much for me. Then I thought of her warm-hearted transporter, Michelle, and the warm-handed surgeon who tried to massage her heart back to life and I have to believe that Ruby realized how much she was loved and how much she was wanted, with or without a forever family.
If you haven’t yet, please consider making a donation in Ruby’s name to our No Frostbite Online Virtual Garage Sale. Financial support from people like you is what allows us to pick up any dane – regardless of its medical condition and the potential cost to treat it – and give it a fighting chance. Without GDRNT, Ruby would have surely died in the shelter, nameless and without warm hands wrapped around her heart.
