Friday: March 26

Today is the day that Davis left for his forever home. Sherry came over to go with me, and she brought a soft crate just in case we needed it. After we took Davis to the transport, we planned to drive to West Memphis and rescue Missy. The shelter closes at noon on Friday, so we did not have a lot of time to waste. When we drove up to the shelter, I looked to my left and there she was. Missy was in the same outdoor run, but she was alone. I really can't be sure, but I think I saw the look on her face that said "they came back for me". We went inside, completed the necessary paper work, paid $80.00 and headed outside to get Missy. She was so excited. She got in the crate and road very quietly. Somehow, she just knew that she was safe.

While on our way to the vet in Collierville, it occurred to me that Missy would be spending the weekend in another crate. I decided that she would spend the weekend at my house. We were so close to the vet's office, we went ahead and stopped by to let them know that we would bring Missy back after the weekend. They were kind enough to offer to give her a bath. Sherry and I went to lunch while Missy was treated to a bath and a blow dry. After lunch, we picked her up and started home. She is doing great. She is fine with our other dogs and she is so sweet. She takes treats nicely and knows sit. I do think that she is house trained, although she has had one accident.

Missy did not need the crate.

Missy helps Tim play the Xbox.

Thursday: March 25

Still thinking about rescuing Missy. I am going out of town on Monday, so I thought, you had better go get her now. You can decide what to do with her when you get back. She will have to have heart worm treatment anyway, so it will give me a few days to think about the fostering thing. Every time I looked at Cedar, I thought of Missy. I decided that I had to get this girl. Davis, my foster, was leaving on Friday morning and I could just head on over to WM and get Missy.

Cedar

Tuesday: March 23

Still thinking about Missy. I posted some information about Missy and I emailed a contact that one of our volunteers gave me and I emailed the Lab Rescue groups in both Kentucky and Oklahoma. I have not heard from either one. I then received notification from Gary, one of our MAGRR board members. He volunteered to pay for Missy's vet bills if I wanted to get her out of the shelter.

Sometime in the afternoon, I got a call from Tim (my husband). He said, "Why don't you go and rescue Missy." He was traveling for work that day in a rural area of Tennessee and he saw more stray dogs and it was really beginning to get on his nerves. I even saw a stray when I stopped on one of my errands that afternoon. Of course, I am still thinking that maybe one of the rescue groups will reply to my messages.

Monday: March 22

Phyl and I traveled back to the West Memphis Animal Shelter to rescue Jersey. MAGRR is rescuing this sweet boy. As we pulled up to the shelter, once again I looked over to the left and there were Jersey and Missy in their outdoor run. I had that little flutter in my heart that told me to save this girl. I was strong and we just took Jersey. He was so relieved to be out of that shelter, but I kept thinking about Missy.

The Beginning

I need to rewind back to Friday, March 19.
I arrived at school on the Friday before spring break and already I could tell it was going to be one of those days. Some of our students decided to take the day off and start their spring break early. A large group of band students were loading the Greyhound bus to start their trek to New York City.

The EAST Lab classroom was full of Kuranda beds and several students were working very hard to get the last few beds put together so we could travel down to the animal shelter and deliver them. In case you aren't aware, my sister (Sherry) and I both teach at West Memphis High School. Our students sold candy to raise $1,800 to buy Kuranda beds for our local animal shelter. We decided that this would be the perfect day to take some students and go deliver the beds. We wanted the students to be able to put the beds in the kennels. You would think after fostering 78 goldens and having to tell them goodbye, that I could suck it up and go to the shelter. So, I did just that.

We decided to call all of our EAST students out of class to have a parade of beds out to the trucks. After loading the beds, we headed down to the shelter. When we got there, just when I got out of the truck, I saw two big golden dogs in an outside run. One of them looked like a Golden Retriever and the other one looked like a yellow Lab. I immediately wanted to visit those two. So, Angela (the shelter lady) got Jersey for all of us to love. He was so sweet and I just knew that MAGRR could rescue this boy. I looked back at Missy and I saw a Lab, not a golden. I told her that I was sure that the Lab rescue might come and get her.

We delivered the beds, shed a few tears, and loved lots of dogs (and cats). We assured everyone that someone would rescue them soon. It made us feel better to think that. As we got ready to leave, I looked over at Missy and told her goodbye. I told Jersey that we would be back.