Miss Liberty

Sometimes I think there must be an invisible sign on our back door stoop that flashes so that only animals can read, “All Stray Animals, Park Here.”

On the 4th of July, there was a starving little dog curled up on the concrete pad when we returned home from a holiday party. All we could see was skin covering a pitiful little skeleton. The little thing looked up at us with haunting white eyes, and then laid its head back down. Taking a closer look we could see chewed up ears, skinned up paws with no fur on them, and reddened, raw skin on the inside of the haunches and on the snout. Phil got a bowl and filled it with dog food, and the little pup managed to stand up and inhale it before laying back down. We left it there and went upstairs for the night.

Next morning, the dog hadn’t moved, but when I went out to check on it, the little guy (or gal)managed to get up on its legs and greet me with a weak wag of the tail. I wasn’t sure if it was a female or male, and didn’t want to get close enough to tell. I began calling the pup Liberty, thinking that it could be a name for a girl or a boy, and appropriate for its 4th of July arrival at our house. I headed out to the garden to pick some blackberries, and was surprised when a little skinned up snout nosed its way into the basket and began eating the berries. I could see that the dog was a female, and a hungry one at that. I led her back to the house, and gave her a morning bowl of food. She ate and then limped back out to the garden where I was picking squash and cucumbers. She lay down in the garden close to me while I worked.

By evening, she had perked up somewhat, but still looked quite ragged. By Sunday morning, she was able to climb the steps to the upper deck, and settled herself in front of the door, waiting for us to come outside. That evening when I took Diamond for a walk, she accompanied us, and walked the entire two miles without flagging or falling back. I was quite impressed with her gumption and perseverance. After this outing, she curled up and slept through the night. I cried, I was so proud of her.

On Monday, I made some phone calls to animal rescue centers and Humane Societies, and either got no answers or answers I didn’t want to hear. I decided that I couldn’t condemn Liberty to certain euthanasia by taking her to the Humane Society. I want to find her a good home, but she needs to be healthy before I can ask someone to take her. Phil and I agreed that we’d feed her and nurse her back to health, and then see if we can find someone who would like a dog. I cried again as I thought about what she must have gone through in her journey that led her to our house.

It is now Wednesday, and Liberty has improved at least 300% since last Friday. She is filling out, her white eyes are brighter, and her tail wags a lot. She still has a long way to go, but I think she is going to make it. I plan to take her to the vet on Friday to make sure that she doesn’t have anything major wrong with her, and from there we’ll get her ready to be adopted if she is o.k. If we didn’t already have two cats and a German Shepherd, we’d probably keep her. But the invisible sign is still blinking in bright neon that only animals can see, and I know it won’t be long before there will be another orphan on our stoop.