Stray to stay

I was visiting my 85-year-old mother in the Phoenix, AZ area. We were driving west on I-10 one late afternoon. Out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed what I thought was a white dog leaning against a cement noise barrier wall about 30 yards from the freeway. We could not stop as we were in rush hour traffic on an inner lane of the 6 lane freeway. We were surrounded on all sides by cars moving so fast that I was unable to exit for several more exits.

We drove to a truck stop, purchased rope and chicken, and drove back to the area. The white dog was still there in the same position. I was concerned she was injured and I saw she was not wearing a collar. I did not want to approach her from the freeway side as I was concerned she would run. Fortunately I located a dirt access road that traced the top side of the wall. We parked there, and I got out and peered down over the side of the wall to establish her location as I wanted to be downwind from her. I knew the chance of her smelling me was greater than the chance of her hearing me due to the roar of the traffic.

I made a noose out of the nylon rope and smeared chicken on it so it would smell like chicken, not me. I peeked over the side of the wall to see what she was doing, then dropped a piece of chicken near her. She ate it. I continued dropping pieces of chicken to distract her as I began lowering the noose down the side of the wall. I was concerned she would become startled and run into traffic if I didn't capture her on the first try. I got the noose over her neck the first try!

angel2 (9K)

She just looked up at me calmly. It was obvious her left rear leg was injured since it was dangling from her hip. Her rib cage and spine were protruding from her emaciated body. She had an open wound on her hip and a black tire mark on her forehead.

I stood on top of the wall holding the rope with the dog attached, trying to decide my next step. This apparently was worrisome to a kind passerby, Janet, who thought I was going to pull the dog up the wall by her neck. She exited the freeway and made her way back to us, parking below the wall near the dog. I could hardly believe my good fortune. We discussed options for helping the dog—and then a policeman pulled in behind her car. He told us the dog would be euthanized if we took her to the county shelter as there would not be enough money in the budget to repair her leg. We could not bear the thought so we decided to save this dog ourselves.

The policeman gently picked up the dog and carried her to Janet's car. Fortunately she did not resist or try to bite the policeman. Janet agreed to foster the dog overnight so Mother and I followed her to her home to help set up an appropriate place. The dog settled right in and was very thirsty. We were concerned she was deaf because she was so quiet and acted as if she could not hear us. We later determined she was likely in shock.

Since we obviously did not know the dog's name, it was time to pick one. Janet chose "Angel" which seemed especially appropriate.

The next morning I returned to Janet's home for Angel. I took her to a veterinary clinic and first had her scanned for a microchip. She did not have one. The veterinarian took radiographs and determined Angel had a dislocated hip. I contacted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Steven Martinez, at Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Pullman, WA for an Arizona referral. He directed me to an excellent surgeon in Scottsdale, Dr. Stephen Gilson. I called him. I could hardly believe our good fortune that Dr. Gilson would be willing to perform surgery the next morning, a Sunday. He generously offered a discount even though I had not asked for one. The surgery would cost $2,000 to $2,500.

angel3 (6K)

The next morning after I took her to Dr. Gilson's clinic, I went to work on the rest of the "saving Angel" details. I contacted my rescue friends in Washington. Amy, my pet detective friend, searched Craigslist for her family but did not find them. She also called an Arizona pet detective to see if anyone had been contacted about a missing dog like Angel. The pet detective had not. "Rescue Robin" helped by contacting Penny Eims, a wonderful reporter who writes interesting stories about needy dogs. Amy set up a ChipIn account for "Angel the freeway dog." Thanks to Penny's story on www.examiner.com and the ChipIn account, donations started coming in from across the nation. It was unbelievable how many cared about the emaciated white dog with the dislocated hip and a black tire mark on her forehead.

Angel was going to need to be on leash for 4-6 weeks post-surgery. I had to decide what to do with Angel once I picked her up from the veterinary clinic. I did not have any rescue contacts in the Phoenix area and was unable to locate one on such short notice. So, I decided to take Angel back with me and foster her through her recovery. I knew it would not be a good idea to fly her home with me. The only solution was to cancel my flight, rent a car, and drive home. The one-way car rental was going to be expensive, in the $700.00+ range. It would take a full 3 days to drive 1300+ miles north to Washington state.

Angel stayed overnight at the clinic after her surgery. The next morning I bid my mother farewell, picked up the vehicle, and drove to pick up Angel. Fortunately it was a small SUV so I was able to put the seats down creating a large area for her to rest comfortably. I placed blankets everywhere for Angel to rest on and to keep the car free of dog hair. At the clinic, I learned the surgery was even more successful than initially hoped for. Instead of performing a femoral head ostectomy, Dr. Gilson surgically manipulated the ball of her hip back into the socket. The vet tech brought Angel to me and provided discharge instructions. The clinic did not sell microchips, so she would get that at home. He loaded her into my car and our journey began.

Our first stop was a pet supply store to buy an identification tag, collar and leash. I included two telephone numbers on her tag as a precaution for traveling with a dog who had been a stray—I had no idea if Angel was an escape artist. While traveling with Angel, I was careful to never open any door unless she was tightly leashed. I knew it is very common for newly-adopted dogs to bolt through open car and building doors and escape. Looking back, I should have purchased a martingale style no-slip collar so Angel could not back out of it.

This was going to be a big adventure for both of us. It turned out Angel was the perfect little traveler and a wonderful companion for a road trip. The weather was excellent, the roads were great and the scenery was beautiful. I did not eat meals in restaurants as I did not know if Angel would damage the car interior while unattended. I was also concerned about the possibility of dog theft and the warm temperatures outside.

We met rescue friend Cheryl in Milton Freewater, OR, on our last night. Cheryl wanted to meet the freeway dog who she had been reading about on our "Saving Angel" group email exchanges. Cheryl brought cheese to make Angel's pain medication more palatable; I had run out.

Angel and I finally made it home a couple of hours later, around midnight. The next day I drove another 75 miles to return the car to Spokane, WA. Much to my surprise, the on-site manager of National Car Rental, generously deducted 25% off my bill. Rescue friend Bernice in Washington state had contacted the Spokane media prior to our arrival. We were interviewed by reporters from KXLY and KHQ television stations before returning to our home. Angel didn't seem to mind all the fuss and attention.

Devin Rokyta, a reporter with the "Moscow-Pullman Daily News," wrote a front page story about rescuing Angel.