Tail Talk

As Thanksgiving approaches, I want to share with you all one of the things I’m most thankful for as a member of the community known as Randolph County.  Through volunteering my writing skills for the Randolph County Humane Society, I have had the privilege of getting to know the president of the Humane Society, a 45 year old woman I’ll call “Mighty Fighter.”  Mighty Fighter works tirelessly to make sure the animals are taken care of until they find a forever home, and she spends every waking moment in pursuit of keeping the doors to the shelter open.  I first began to admire her because after two back surgeries that didn’t cure what ails me, I realized she has similar problems with her back, but uses a medicine pump that pumps pain meds directly into her spinal canal and a spinal stimulation unit that puts electric currents in her spine, just so she can walk.  Makes my back problems look like a walk in the park.  Even with all of that she spends her days cleaning kennels, walking the dogs, administering medicines, doing paperwork, etc., etc.  She’ll spend weeks preparing for and going to court against animal abusers to obtain possession of the abused and neglected animals so they can be permanently removed from their abusive situation, then she nurses them back to health so they can be adopted into loving forever homes.  I have marveled at her ability to go and go and go when the animals are involved.  This past summer I stopped by the shelter and one of the volunteers told me they’d just taken Mighty Fighter out on a stretcher in an ambulance.  This vibrant, energetic young woman had a heart attack.  Add this to what she goes through just to be on her feet, and I’m sure you’ll agree that 99% of the population would be motivated to stop doing everything except take care of themselves (and with good reason), but not Mighty Fighter.  As soon as she was able she was back at the shelter, going 90 mph to save as many dogs as she can.  She and her husband purchased a van they donated to the shelter to use for transports (when other no-kill shelters have room to take our overflow), and making all the weekly transports happen by driving the animals to another, often out of state shelter or to the airport for the plane waiting to take them away, is just another item on the list of her many duties.  She’s a one person whirlwind, and keep in mind, she volunteers all of her time.  Last month we were talking on the phone and she told me she’d gotten bad news.  She has leukemia.  Right now she is undergoing chemotherapy treatments but because there is no one else to do what she does she has continued to do for the shelter as she has always done.  Being a rural county of only 34,000 people besides being an area that is down on its luck, there isn’t a lot of money left over for donations to the shelter, and donations are our only source of income.  She constantly has to struggle with how she is going to get the medicines and vaccines paid for that she must have for the animals.  She was devastated because she was pricing the veterinary products and even though she had gotten the price down lower than she’d ever gotten it before, there was just simply not enough money in the till to get everything we need.  And again, she takes from her own pocket to make sure the animals don’t suffer.  But in the midst of our conversation she started to cry.  She said to top it all off when she got into the shower that evening a large clump of her hair had fallen out, and she just wasn’t prepared to lose her hair.  And I cried with her because there is nothing more that I can do as her friend except to offer my shoulder because as inadequate as it is, it is all I have to give. 

I would give anything if during this extreme time of need she had some of the burden lifted from her shoulders.  I can’t take her cancer away, but perhaps as a community we can come together to help the shelter, both financially and by volunteering, so at least she doesn’t have to shoulder the depth and breadth of the burden she now shoulders. 

I know there will never be a time the shelter will be without animals that need her help, and if together we can help lighten her load it may help her stay around longer, saving more lives in the process.  I can only pray that happens because these shoes are just too big to be filled by anyone other than Mighty Fighter.  She is my hero.  I’m 54 years old, but I know that as long as I live I’ll never be ½ the person she is.  The only thing I can hope is that by bringing her story to your attention perhaps your kind heart will be moved to help the one that helps the least of them among us.   And please, when  you sit down to enjoy your Thanksgiving with your family this year, say a prayer of gratitude for the Mighty Fighters everywhere because we are a stronger community because of them.

A report issued this month by New Scientist Magazine states that dogs can read emotions on faces just like people and can sense happiness, sadness or angry feelings in others.  I could have told them that and saved them all a lot of money, but no one asked me.  It is rewarding for those of us that have been saying this for years about our pets to have it finally confirmed with scientific data so we can prove to the naysayers we were right all along.  I believe this was born out when the First Dog, Barney, bit the reporter at the White House after the reporter asked for permission to pet him.  I’m confident Barney has noticed the stress his human, our President, has been under at the hands of the press and decided to put his two cents in.  I know with one of my dogs, Budward, he is keenly aware of my level of stress.  When he sees I need a break he goes and stands in front of the bedroom door and gives a low volume mrrrrrrrrr.  When I look over at him he tosses his head back towards the bed, as if to say, come on mom, let’s go take a break and relax for a minute.  When I respond by asking him if we should “get it on up there” he jumps on the bed and waits for me to come lay down for a minute.  And after a couple of minutes of petting I’m calm again and he jumps down and goes back about his business.  Budward is my best friend, and there is never a moment of the day that I feel alone because he has my back in whatever I do.  After two back surgeries failed to cure what ails me, Budward has been there for me through thick and thin.  He walks with me when I am able to exercise but he’s just as happy to lay next to me during those times when I can’t.  No matter what the agenda, he’s up for it.  But he’s over 11, old for big dogs, and he’s beginning to lose the use of his back legs, a common ailment in the large breeds even when they’re mixed breeds.  We suffer together through the difficult times and we rejoice together through the happy times.  He knows me like a book, much better than any of my human family members.  He’s trying to teach Action Jackson some manners, and I believe he’s showing him the way towards being the kind of friend a crabby old woman like me needs around them.  He’s teaching him to anticipate my needs, to guide me into taking a moment when I need it and nudging me into getting up when I need that more.  He’s showing him how to be everything a best friend should be, anticipating the day when he’ll no longer be able to take the lead.  I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the day when he crosses the rainbow bridge.   I guess I’ll be lonely for his love until the day comes for me to cross over the bridge.  I know on that day I’ll find him there, waiting for me, and we’ll walk together like we used to in the old days before either of us got old and wobbly.  And on that day, just like now, I know I won’t need to be afraid because my best friend will be there, waiting on me, watching my face to see if I’m afraid.  It won’t matter if I’m fearful or stressed because I’ll hear that low volume mrrrrrrrr and see the nod, encouraging me to cross the bridge, calling me home.  And we’ll be together again.

If you want a love monkey like Budward in your life, someone that knows what you’re thinking even before you do, check out the dogs and cats at the Randolph County Humane Society.  If you can’t bear to go into the shelter to pick just one dog, check out the dogs available in Sparta, IL at www.FidoFinder.com and you’ll see all the animals available at the shelter.  Or you can visit the RCHS website by visiting www.RandolphHumane.org.  And if you’d like to share this Tail Talk article or any of the past articles, you can now visit www.TailTalk.org on the web, and all the articles I’ve written for the Randolph County Humane Society are there to be read and shared with your friends.  Remember, it is only through you that we are able to continue to save lives, one by one.