A Long First Day

July 16: The days seem to gone by so slowly as I waited for this day to come. Bandit, as he is now being called (thanks Elizabeth), is out of the shelter and laying at my feet as I type! A big thank you to Astrid at Home At Last Rescue for her assistance in getting Bandit released to me.

It's strange and wonderful how things work out. It was by pure chance that I saw Bandit last week as he was being surrendered to the shelter. When I looked at him and heard his story, I knew I had to do something to help even though I was not free to foster him myself, since I already had 2 dogs of my own, was dogsitting a 3rd, and also had a foster named Junebug.

As fate or just plain coincidence would have it, Junebug was adopted today. After dropping her off at her forever home (and feeling a bit sad about it), I headed straight for the Martinez Shelter. I filed the necessary paperwork, then waited for Juno, as he was then still known, to be brought out. As I sat in the lobby, I felt excited but also a peacefulness in knowing that the thing I had been hoping for and wanting so badly was about to happen.

And then I saw him round the corner.



And my heart just swelled.


From that moment, I wanted to wash away the ordeal he had known, the uncertainty, the fear, the overwhelming confusion. From that moment, he became Bandit.



Bandit could not jump into my car because of his injured leg, but he allowed the shelter staff member to lift him in. He was calm and quiet the whole ride home, peeking through one window, then the other, giving me a few soft licks in between, then laying down.



Bandit was very accepting when we arrived at my house. I lifted him out of the car and he followed me to the backyard.



He was fine with all of my other dogs, from my submissive female to my dominant male. He and Harry, our 4-legged guest, were especially cute together.







I quickly learned that Bandit likes toys.





And tummy rubs.



The entire time, I saw that Bandit was not using his left hind leg at all. He was hopping on only 3 legs. I called various vets and VSA in Concord, who surprisingly actually remembered me from almost a year ago when I brought in my then-foster Laura, managed to squeeze me in that same day. So it was off we went again.



Peekaboo.



When we arrived, Bandit was curious but calm and won everybody over.







X-rays were taken, which showed a complete break of his thigh bone. They explained to me that they would rejoin the 2 bones and hold them together with a permanent plate, similar to what they did with Laura. The surgery is estimated to cost about $4000.




Bandit will have his surgery tomorrow. I can't bear to think of him in pain longer than he already has been. Any donations, even a few dollars, will add up and help immensely. Contributions are tax-deductible and can be made through Walkin' the Bark Rescue, a 501c3 organization.

If anyone would like to adopt Bandit, you can go to his Petfinder page and fill out an application. From what I've seen so far, he is a great dog who has bonded to me very quickly. I haven't even known him for a full day and already I love him.



Thank you to everyone who emailed about then Juno, now Bandit. It is nice to know that there are so many others who care.