Last week something rather surprising happened at my clinic. A client had dropped off her dog for routine vaccinations, lab tests, and checkup and had planned on picking her up in the afternoon. All of that went fine and I called her to let her know that the dog was ready to go home and had no health concerns. Let's call her Mrs. Saint and her dog Sophie.
The owner came in after work, around 5:00 pm. At the same time a new client brought in a four month old puppy that they were going to have to get rid of. They were planning on only doing an exam before trying to find her a new home. This dog was emaciated! Her ribs and spine were prominent and she was just skin and bones, so let's call her Twig. They had had her for two months, and I couldn't believe how skinny she was.
Mrs. Saint was there to pick up Sophie and was standing at the front desk when the skinny dog was being checked in. Overhearing that they needed a new home and seeing her condition, she immediately offered to take the dog. The other people jumped at the chance, and right then and there Twig changed families.
We examined Twig, gave her a dewormer and vaccines, and determined that other than being extremely skinny she wasn't in bad health. She was shy and rather reserved, but she was just going through a complete lifestyle change and didn't even know that she would be spending that night in a new home.
As Mrs. Saint was checking out with Twig we brought Sophie out. This was the first meeting of the dogs and Sophie took it in stride. However, I don't think she knew exactly what was going on and probably thought it was just another dog in our lobby. I wonder what was going through her mind as she got into the car with this strange dog!
I've had clients adopt strays, but I've never had it happen right there in my lobby. I was extremely impressed and awed by Mrs. Saint, and told her so. She had my admiration for taking a new dog who was obviously malnourished, all without calling her husband or giving it much thought. Twig was in a bad situation and needed a new home. Mrs. Saint just couldn't let that go and will be giving Twig a spectacular home. She started the morning with one dog and ended the day with two.
Faith in humanity restored!
