Rescuing the Human

A few years ago, I had a terrible accident as i was walking out my front door apartment to take my Great Dane for a walk. I was in a hurry, and i grabbed his leash and yelled to my daughter that i was taking Jasper out. Clipped his leash, and opened the door and briskly walked out my front door. As i was walking, i slipped on something on the sidewalk with my artificial leg and with holding the leash landed face first onto the ground with the loudest crack sound inside my body. As i fell, a little dog at the other apartment was unleashed on the front deck with the parents in their apartment. Jasper, sensing that something was wrong, heard rustling in the neighbors bushes and raced towards it. He pulled so fast that my ring finger on my right hand broke and i lost my grip.

I was immobilized so much all i could see is my dog racing after the little dog and placing it in his mouth with the leash still attached to his collar. The elderly lady is screaming “my baby, my baby”, and trying to get the small dog out of Jasper’s grip. My daughter heard commotion, and she ran outside and saw me crawling toward my dog which by then had a few people trying to get my dog. My daughter ran over and pulled Jasper back, and he dropped the bloodied dog. The elderly lady grabbed her dog and wrapped it in a blanket, and i heard someone screaming call the police.

In shock of my body being broken and trying to crawl to Jasper, I told my daughter to take him in our apartment. The crying from the elderly was a sad thing to hear, I can still hear her crying. Once my daughter placed Jasper into the apartment, she came to my aid, and trying to get me to stand. My body had NO FEELING. I couldn’t feel my legs, I could feel my ring finger starting to swell but no pain. I was able to stand up and the warden came, and said that i should go to the emergency room because she could see i was in pain. I told her i wanted to make sure the elderly lady was ok before i went, even though i was in pain.

Jasper had NEVER shown any aggression, we had adopted him when he was a baby. In fact we adopted him from a humane society and they said he was a beagle mix. The first month after i adopted him, I couldn’t figure out why he was getting to large so quickly. So i took him to get his shots and asked the veterinarian, as to why he was growing so big. She said “Honey, you have a Great Dane.” He was 5 years when we moved into the apartment complex and he seemed to adjust quickly until that fateful day.

The dog warden came to me and said that she had questioned everyone, and that luckily i had witnesses who said that I had fallen and that he was protecting me, when he saw something in the bushes. But the warden said that i needed to go to the emergency and take care of myself, and that she would come back tomorrow and talk to me about Jasper.

My husband drove home to the “mess” and went over to the neighbors and apologized about what happened. The husband said we should get a gun and shoot our dog in the heart and get it over with. My husband took me to the emergency room and they examined me, had to cut off my ring and put my finger in a splint. I had a broken pelvis and broken ribs as well. I sat on that bed with the numbness going away and suddenly the pain filtering my body. My sobbing was uncontrollable. My dog, had inflicted pain on another family, I knew what I had to do.

Once i arrived at home, I couldn’t sleep that night and felt so bad for our neighbors, and the grief that i was going to endure. The next morning, we received a visit from the dog warden. I asked her do i have to submit Jasper to them, and she said that because of the witnesses, that they would “tag” his as a dangerous animal. I responded that i came from the Amish community in North East Ohio, and that when an animal killed another, it was time to put them to sleep. And that my intentions were that i would take Jasper to the veterinarian to be euthanized. I had told her i would have hated it it was adopted by another person, and they were unaware of his previous incident, it could be hurtful again to someone instead of a dog. She said that she respected my decision, and that she would need documentation that i eventually did that.

After called several Veterinarian’s, I found one that said that she would do it. I had my husband drive me to there and he assisted me in a wheelchair into their office with Jasper. There i explained fully what had happened, and she understood my wishes. She had a husband who dealt with second chance dogs, and asked me if i would be interested in giving Jasper to him. I said sure. She came back after talking with her husband and said because of Jasper killing another dog, it couldn’t be possible to try and give him a second chance. I sat there with Jasper who wasn’t sure why he was there in the office, and the doctor gave him a shot. He started becoming lethargic, and i started to cry, telling him how much i loved him, and was so sorry i fell. I blamed myself because i felt that my disability put him at risk. They came in to get him and walked him out back. I left feeling numb, like i had lost my best friend of 5 years. The guilt of my disability had never been a issue in my 55 years until now.

I was unable to work for a couple of months. The neighbors who lost their dog were telling their “own” story that wasn’t what was witnessed. Telling all our new neighbors that we were bad, one time my oldest daughter was walking out to her car and another neighbor was bullying her. It was difficult dealing with a loss of a family member and having so much hate and frustration by all the other neighbors who were not there when it happened.

We as parents question ourselves as to whether we did or are doing everything possible to take care of our loved one….even an animal. We feel responsible for what they are to become in the future, and life without my dog was a hard one. I finally got back to work but i still missed my best friend. My lease came up, and i moved to a different building which made it so much better to live. The elderly couple was given another puppy right away, which they didn’t have any interest in having, and eventually gave away. I had a harder time, of just missing my dog, but i knew in my heart that the decision was right. The thought of adopting another dog was always tugging at my heart, but i told myself, i could not adopt another big dog. I needed a dog that i could physically handle.

A few years later, i had seen at our local humane society a picture of this cute dog. They named her Tres Leche, and said she was a special needs chihuahua. I had the day off, and went to see her. She looked tiny, and was only walking on 3 legs. They told me that she was involved in a animal abuse case,and when they saw her, she was infested with fleas, and had a leg that was broken in several places. So they removed her from the owner. They said she was 9 years old and a little over 3 lbs. I spent time with her and said that I would like to adopt her.

I renamed her Lilly (Lillian) and she has the biggest doggy bed fit for a Great Dane. She has gained a healthy weight. She knows which side of the sidewalk to walk, and pulls slightly on the leash as to say “come on mommy, let go discover new things”. I have had Lilly for almost a year, and i recently called the Humane society to thank them, and they were at liberty to finally tell me of the case. She was found traveling with a homeless lady (In the county where we live, if a homeless person has an animal for a companion, that the county will pay for veterinary fees to make sure the animals are taken care of. They also said, that they were thankful i was able to adopt her as quickly as i did, as to some animals with disabilities have trouble getting adopted.

Jasper has never left my thoughts even today, yet, out of a little 3 legged dog, the filling of joy has filled my heart once again. She rescued me. (In the county where we live, if a homeless person has an animal for a companion, that the county will pay for veterinary fees to make sure the animals are taken care of.