I'm the Lucky One

Who really knows what happened before the officer removed the poor dog from the scene? The dog’s injuries weren’t discovered for several hours after the incident as he was in a crate and not in plain view. When the puppy was fully discovered, the officer could see that he did not look well. The puppy suffered from an attack by a home invader. He was the subject of rage that was not warranted for any action that he had done, rather, the result of a disagreement among people, and the intruder had viciously filmed himself throwing the puppy against the wall. This officer brought him to a veterinary hospital. Performing as a K9 Officer, he took the responsibility of surrendering over the puppy to those in the field that could help. After careful planning, this boy canine spent something like that of a week in an oxygen supplemented kennel.

I was an employee at the time and my co-worker had not hesitated to call me after a fourteen-hour shift, wondering if I would be responsible for this poor man. “Puppy” Montony is what he was called from that conversation at 11:30pm and on. I waited up all night to hear from my doctor on staff to inform me how the first night of stabilization went. “He seems very sweet,” they all informed me, “there is some liver damage, a broken pelvis and femur, nine broken ribs, and lung contusions secondary to the ribs.” They put him on medication for the blunt force trauma hepatopathy (liver damage due to a traumatic event) and he responded very well to all treatments. On that very first night of finding out I had another soul to save, I started googling “warrior” names. This dog, whom I would meet the next day on my ICU shift, had been reported to be very sweet despite of his circumstances. He was fighting to live and acted as though nothing had ever happened.

I had owned a husky before, which is why I was thought of when he was surrendered. They are a particular breed that is among those closest to wild as you can get and it is comforting in the field to know that in a critical case such as this, the caretaker knows what they are getting into. It was such a bonding experience to have him as a patient during my shifts, but I had to take my time of course. There were a couple of times I approached too quickly, but I found out that he was sweet, he even walked on three legs despite his broken pelvis and leg. He made it to surgery in no time and the talented surgeon there was able to fix his fractures. He will forever be mildly handicapped, not that he realizes this fact.

Ludwick was one of the many names on my list, I like to have abstract names for my dogs which I have not been without since I was six months of age. “Famous warrior,” says Google, perfect. Ludo is a character in Labyrinth with David Bowie, and he makes lots of noise: huskies are not much different. They try to speak their blunt feelings in a vocal manner that allows an almost universal language to be interpreted. He is a strong and friendly personality, that enjoys the attention provided by any soul, no judgement. As Ludo healed, he began getting more comfortable with his new surroundings, and his personality proved relentless. I am now reminded what it was like when my previous husky was a puppy, and we have a lot of fun exploring different ways to spend his energy.

Despite her former owners adopting her first and making the promise to love her first, Tilly was surrendered to me by a young couple that thought it best to give her up. She had bitten the new puppy, and they were thinking of euthanizing her. I was brought into the picture by a co-worker in Wisconsin, who knew the couple surrendering her. She came to me as a nervous little dog named “Lilly” with many patches of fur missing, along with pseudo pregnancy resulting from never being spayed. It was almost fate that she came to me, and she blended in with the two dogs I already had. It did take time and patience, along with a couple of aggression incidents that we learned from, but she came around. She had not yet had someone who took the time to put work into her, and I was going to be that person.

My former dogs were well versed in charity cases I brought home, and they gave her the space she needed. When they unfortunately met their own ends of old age and cancer, Tilly blossomed into her own personality. I was introduced to a whole new dog, and she now shows amazing progress with Ludo, who tests her at every opportunity. Big sister is something she has adopted, and not gone back from for several months now.

I nominate Ludo and Tilly for Empawees of the Month. They came to me very broken, and now make my day to day so bright and full of love. They run about, focused on having fun and checking in on every little thing that I am doing, and they are always on standby to play. It’s as though they know that as I sit here writing about them, they are the subject of a big story that is close to my heart, that could have belonged to anyone, but I was the lucky person who got them.

I thank all Veterinarians and Veterinary Technicians in the field. NOMV.