Lady's Last Chapter

You may remember the story from about a year ago of an older dog who had been surrender to a shelter when she couldn't adjust to a new home with multiple small dogs, and who was then re-adopted and ran away, only to walk thirty miles back to the family who surrendered her. That family refused to take her back so she was returned to the pound.

That story then took an interesting turn. Helen Rich, heiress to the Wrigley gum fortune, heard about the dog and almost instantly dispatched her private plane to rescue her. There was a photo of the dog looking out the window of the private jet, and we could only wonder what was going through her mind.

Helen renamed the dog "Lady," and from all accounts over the past year, that's what she was. The two bonded and Lady quickly grew accustomed to her new life with five other dogs and a number of cats in the 11,000 sf home. Helen Rich is the founder of Wings of Angel Rescue and has over 300 rescue dogs, cats, cattle, horses, exotic birds and other animals in custom designed shelters on her ranch in Florida.

For almost a year, Lady was at Helen's side. They say rescue dogs always know they have been given a second chance, having had one, I would tend to agree. Helen said that Lady was always her dog, it just took a while for them to find each other.

A few weeks ago Helen posted that Lady was ill. Of course she was given the best of care available, but there are things in life no amount of assets can overcome. And so it was with Lady.

After spending one last night in her own bed and with Helen beside her, Lady was released from her suffering.

One dog's life. Funny how the first decade or so mattered to so few, and the last year, with the help of an angel, touched so many. Lady was lucky, but I would think that Helen felt even luckier.

Each year tens of thousands of dogs and cats are put down for no other reason than there is no room. No room in the shelter and no room in our hearts. If you are thinking of getting a pet, consider a rescue. People give away dogs to shelters for many reasons, the least of which is they are bad dogs. If you ever go into a shelter and actually read the reasons for surrender, your heart will break. Getting divorced, moving, got a puppy and they don't get along, no time... I could go on, but let's just say people, not the dogs, suck. Lady won the lottery, but the same is true for all dogs adopted into a loving home. Trust me, you rescue them and they rescue you. Woof.

Easy Journey Lady.

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