Happy Endings

Ginger's Amazing Journey

February 7, 2008 was a cold night in Mentor with temperatures dipping into the low 20’s.  The Lake Humane Society furnace was broken and the staff was scrambling to find areas in G building to house our animals because that building still had heat.  A volunteer walking one of our dogs behind the shelter in the morning came in and questioned why we had a dog in our newly built yet unfinished fenced run.  Knowing those runs should be empty we raced to the area where we found an abandoned dog and a box with 2 kittens.  The dog was shivering and had ice forming on its coat. The two kittens faired much worst.  One kitten was frozen to death and the other was clinging to life.

Shelter staff hurried to get the animals warmed up.  Slowly they responded and improved with every hour.  The dog was dirty, matted and hungry yet despite her horrible experience she remained gentle and trusting. The staff named her Ginger because of her beautiful golden-orange color.  Once cleaned it became evident that under the dirt, mud and ice was a beautiful Wheaten Terrier that was guessed to be about 9 years old.

Ginger was placed for adoption but weeks went by without a glimmer of interest from shelter visitors. Perhaps it was because Ginger sat quietly in her run with head and eyes cast down to the floor.  She looked sad and confused.

The shelter decided to feature Ginger as the Pet of the Month to help generate interest in her. One day a family wandered in just to look at the dogs and was immediately drawn to Ginger.  “She didn’t bark,” Michelle remembers.  “She just sat quietly waiting for us to visit with her.”  During that visit the family seemed to bond immediately with Ginger.  They adopted her and took her home. A couple of weeks later Ginger’s new owner, Michelle, called me to share Ginger’s amazing story.

Michelle was chatting with her good friend one day about the great dog they had just adopted. Michelle described the dog and shared how much fun the family was having with their new pet. As the conversation developed the friend noted that Ginger sounded remarkably similar to a neighbor’s dog.  As the similarities mounted, Michelle knew she had to take Ginger to the friend’s neighborhood to see if this was Ginger’s original home.  Michelle’s friend led them to the neighbor and as the family came outside Ginger went crazy. She remembered the family and they remembered her as well.  But even as the former family greeted Ginger the mother assured Michelle that she did not want Ginger back.  Michelle was not about to let go of her family’s new love but she was eager to learn more about the dog’s background and the former owner was happy to share her story.

Ginger’s real name was Maggie.  She was just a puppy when her first owners bought her from a breeder for $900.  The couple loved and cared for Maggie-Ginger for almost 9 years before the husband passed away.  With the widow’s health failing her daughter moved mom, an aunt and Ginger into a house across the street where she could give them daily help.  But the Aunt, who was mentally challenged, and Ginger didn’t get along and soon the Aunt said Maggie-Ginger bit her which surprised everyone because this dog had never even growled at anyone.  But to be on the safe side Maggie was sent across the street to live with the daughter who also owned two of her own dogs. The daughter’s dogs didn’t take to Maggie at all and pretty soon a decision had to be made. The daughter decided to put Maggie down and took her to the vet.  While there a woman in the waiting room expressed interest in Maggie and when she learned that the dog was scheduled to be euthanized offered to adopt her. Thinking this would be better than euthanasia the daughter agreed to the adoption.  That was in November.

The time between November and February 7 is blank.  We don’t know who adopted Maggie or where she lived.  We do know that she wasn’t cared for properly because of the dirty, matted condition of her coat.  We also know that whoever had her didn’t care about her well-being because on that freezing, cold February night, Maggie was driven to the shelter, taken behind the building, lifted up and thrown over the 6’ high fence into the muddy, frozen dirt. She was left there to endure the freezing night in total darkness.

Michelle tells us that Maggie now has her own bed, plays daily with the children, rides in the car to pick the children up from school, and bounces around the house like a puppy.  No longer does she hang her head and stare at the floor. She greets everyone with a loving nudge with her nose and is happy, playful and content.

Maggie’s journey delivered her to a loving, devoted and fiercely protective family that treasures her.  Maggie-Ginger has found her loving, forever home.

Max

Max came to the shelter in September after his owner had to move and couldn’t take him along. Max is a beautiful 5-year old white shepherd that waited patiently over the last 3 months for his future family to find him. Finally, on November 27, Max’s family came to the shelter and fell in love with him. Max now has a 5-year old white shepherd brother named Rocky that looks just like him. In addition to Rocky, A black cat named Mia rounds out the family. Max will be running and jumping with his new brother in their fenced Mentor backyard under the watchful eyes of his owners Tom and Michele. His new owners shared the following with us in an email, “Max will be a great addition to our family. He seems to be settling in just fine. Rocky has been good with Max, and we are sure as time goes by they will be best friends!” This was a match made in heaven for Max and his new family.

“Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms” ~ George Eliot ~