The Joy and Heartbreak of Rescue

It has been a full week. I was going to say heartbreaking, because it has been that, but there has also been the joy of an adoption.

Let’s start with that joy.

Yesterday, I drove Zarko over the mountains to West Virginia to a beautiful home where one of my previous foster dogs (Lucie Lou, now Luna) lives with her family. Zarko charmed everyone, was respectful with their cats, appropriately terrified of their geese/ducks, and smitten with his new mom and dad. They are taking a few days to get the things they’ll need to welcome him home and will pick him up on Saturday!

I’m overjoyed for this wonderful pup. Abandoned on the streets of Memphis and now headed to a wonderful life on a beautiful farm with a loving family! This is why we rescue. This.

Also a joy: watching Amelia come into her own now that her cone is off and her spay incision is healed. She is a solid citizen – a good listener, respectful, eager to please, easy to care for, and (thankfully) solidly housetrained. She, like so many other mama dogs I’ve fostered, has a wise spirit and a patient attitude.

Amelia is the perfect playmate for the boys, happy to romp, but demonstrating by example that she can also entertain herself. Once she tires of their chase, wrestles, and endless three-way tug-of-war battles, she sets to work hunting bugs. She spends hours, and I’m not exaggerating here, scanning the yard, chasing down any bug she sees, pouncing, occasionally digging, leaping and catching, and snapping at every bug within reach. The entire time, her tail is doing a crazy helicopter circle around and around and her face is pure joy. I’ve never seen anything like this.

I did see that circle wag once before in a foster dog name Thelma, who was also pretty special and very happy. Anyone remember her? (she was also a mama dog!)

It’s also been a joy to take Blarney on adventures and a real joy that he has stopped getting car sick! (knock on wood) I’m working on containing or at least managing his enthusiasm and lack of impulse control. He is a little imp whose joy knows no bounds and whose feet will not stay on the ground.

Now for the heartbreak. I learned this week that one of my former foster puppies was euthanized after coming down with Canine Brucellosis. His leg, back, and neurological issues compelled a canine neurologist to test for the virus, which is one I’d never heard of, but is somewhat well known in dog breeding industry and more prevalent in cattle and swine industries.

The highest risk for contracting the virus is during whelping or by coming into contact with reproductive tissues/fluids, etc. It’s likely under-identified because dogs can carry the virus and have no symptoms at all.

The virus is zoonotic, which means that people are at risk for catching it (again mostly likely during whelping), but thankfully, it’s very rare and there have never been any documented deaths from contracting canine brucellosis. The symptoms are flu-like (chills, intermittent fever, joint pain, body aches).

Because there is no vaccine or cure, when a dog tests positive, veterinarians must report the result and recommend euthanasia.

To be honest, this one has caused several sleepless nights. We work so hard to do everything right to save these dogs and keep them safe and healthy. This feels like an earthquake. Something I could not have predicted or prevented. Something I have absolutely no control over, but can wreak lives.

Because the virus is zoonotic, I was contacted by the Virginia Department of Health. After a lengthy phone call with the state’s Veterinary Epidemiologist, plus the directors of the rescue I was fostering for, I had the heart-wrenching task of contacting everyone who had adopted a littermate and the mama dog, plus any dogs who were in the cottage at that time.

At this point, none of those dogs have shown symptoms. Now, we are all scrambling to learn all we can, and hoping those dogs will still be able to have long, healthy lives.

After speaking with an experienced veterinarian, I learned that the canine version of the virus is pretty rare in the US and is found more often in other countries. In several decades of work, routinely testing for canine brucellosis as part of her work with a canine bloodbank, she had never encountered a positive case. There is comfort in that, but also a tiny voice that says, “Why my puppy?”

Canine brucellosis is basically a sexually transmitted virus, so it affects breeders. Responsible, legitimate breeders will routinely screen for it before breeding their dogs (another really good reason to avoid backyard breeders and puppy mills).

I’m still reeling from the week, but prepping my head and heart to leave for another shelter tour on Monday for Who Will Let the Dogs Out. This time we are traveling to struggling shelters north and west of us, with a first-ever visit to Ohio. The animal crisis is not abating in the U.S. Please continue to encourage everyone you know to choose to rescue. If you’d like to support the work we do raising awareness and resources for shelter dogs, click here.

With Zarko successfully launched, it’s entirely possible that we will bring home a stowaway foster dog on this tour – stay tuned!

Until Each One Has a Home,

Cara

For information on my writing and books, visit CaraWrites.com.

If you’d like regular updates of all our foster dogs past and present, plus occasional dog care/training tips, be sure to join the Facebook group, Another Good Dog. And if you’re on TikTok, you can find regular videos of my current fosters, dog news/tips, and more if you follow me there.

And if you’d like to know where all these dogs come from and how you can help solve the crisis of too many unwanted dogs in our shelters, visit WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org and subscribe to our blog where we share stories of our travels to shelters, rescues, and dog pounds, plus ideas, solutions, and resources to hep shelters save lives.

If you can’t get enough foster dog stories, check out my book: Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs. Or it’s a follow-up that takes you to the shelters in the south, One Hundred Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues.

I love to hear from readers and dog-hearted people! Email me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.

If you’d like to support the work we do (and save the rescue and me some money), shop our Amazon wishlist. We are currently in need of crate covers(!), dog vitamins and probiotics, size large martingale collars, soft treats, bully sticks, and Denta-life chews.

If you’d like to take a vacation with your whole pack, consider visiting one of our two dog-WELCOMING vacation rentals. Visit BringDogs.com to learn more.