I want to share the post that Ashley wrote to memorialize sweet Sammie. In every word, you can appreciate the love and intelligence this family gave to her and SOS. We are very grateful. We hope their hearts heal as best as possible, and send them all the love we can. Sometimes it helps to write about what we are feeling. Wishing you all peace. sc Ashley wrote: Back in July, we made a decision as a family to become a foster home for Save Ohio Strays. We made a choice to open our home to a dog that may have no history, may have injuries beyond the flesh and may be beyond the point of making a comeback. After talking all of this over with Sandy Caldwell, we were ready to see what would come our way. We got the call to pick up a couple of seniors, a lab mix slated for another foster, and a funny little beagle for us. The day I picked up Sammie from Medina County Animal Shelter, she was very afraid, very dirty and actually quite unattractive as far as beagles go. She was fat, missing patches of hair, had some type of skin irritation and her ears had a stench you can only assign to hounds. Despite this all, she was our girl and I was bound and determined to get her moving in a positive direction, away from the stinky, shaking and semi-hairless girl I had in my car. Needless to say, we went straight to the vet to get her checked out. Some ear meds and medicated shampoo and we were on our way home to Sammies next stop, our farm. Our other three dogs looked at her like she had three heads at first, and Im sure were seriously doubting my judgement as far as bunkmates go. A nice bath, a good meal and Sammie was settling in. She literally LOVED everyone and everything in our house. One of her favorite activities was using the underside of our coffee table to scratch her poor itching skin, much to our dismay. Sammie had such a thirst for attention, she would often rub on our cat in an attempt to feel as though she was being petted by someone, anyone. Shortly after Sammie came into our lives, our stray turned barncat had a litter of kittens. Sammie, being the most loving animal I have ever met, semi-adopted them as her own while they were living in the house. Mama cat was not impressed by Sammies mothering skills, which included carrying the kittens in her mouth, but even she couldnt resist Sammies enthusiasm. We would often find Sammie sprawled on the floor with three kittens attacking her and climbing all over her. As Sammie regained some health, she made a transformation I was blessed to witness. The day she came home, she was too afraid to leave our back porch and did not make a peep, other than to whine for more petting. Within a few short weeks, Sammie was not only venturing off of the porch (Finally!) but she was making her voice known, loud and clear. Baying for food, for being let out, for being let in, for seeing us pull in the driveway, and baying just because she was a beagle and I feel that she was so full of joy, she just couldnt hold it in anymore! We would joke that it was good thing no one adopted her early on, they would have been very surprised to realize she did in fact have a voice :) Sammie was a joy to be around. That funny little beagle did not meet a thing she did not love and want to love on. At any adoption event she attended, all people could say was how absolutely sweet and wonderful she was. We sincerely hoped this jewel of a dog would use that personality to make someone else fall in love with her as we had. While we loved Sammie, we knew the best place for her was not in our home permanently. We were her rehab, her warm bed, her full meals and her place to learn how to be a happy go lucky dog again. As Sandy has told me on many occasions, we have to let our fosters go to their forever homes so that we have room to save another soul. This past Saturday, Sammie got to go to Pet Supplies Plus in Medina for an adoption event then she got even more car rides to go visit Grandma and pick up our little girl (Whom, of course, Sammie loves). As I was driving home Saturday afternoon, I looked into my backseat and I had a passed out one year old little girl with her arm resting on the head of a very passed out beagle. My daughter wont remember this, but I will...hopefully the beginning of a long journey in my daughters life of compassion and love for animals. Sunday morning Sammie and I were scheduled to go back to the pet store to round out the adoption event weekend. I let all four dogs outside for a few minutes to finish cleaning up breakfast and round up whatever I needed to take with us. I opened the back door and called the dogs inside. Usually, the three big dogs come first, they have lived her longer and have better hearing. 9 times out of 10, Sammie, despite not hearing well, will see them run toward the house. Next thing I know, she will be barreling toward the back door as well, ears blown out by the breeze, resembling the Flying Nun :) On this morning, she didnt come right away. As she is a beagle and has a one track mind, this wasnt out the ordinary. If she didnt see them take off, she was probably still rooting around under a pine tree, one of her favorite activities. I walked out to bring her in and immediately felt something wrong in the air. There was no Sammie anywhere to be seen. After checking the fences, we found a hole that our horses has torn in the fence, just big enough for a determined beagle to get through. At that point, I was extremely hopeful we would find her quickly. Being a beagle, she had dug under our fence once before, but was immediately busted by her LOUD baying and carrying on in the woods, just on the other side of our fence line. Minutes into my search, I knew something was wrong. She couldnt have been out long, but I heard nothing. No rooting, no baying, no whining. If I was going to do anything, I was going to find that beagle. I took to the woods and fields surrounding the house, while Jesse Butler used a bluetooth speaker to broadcast whistles and beagle howls from our fence line, hoping to catch her attention. He lit a fire in our smoker, hoping the cooking smell would break her from whatever scent she had grabbed out there and turn her toward home. After a few hours of criss crossing the woods, I could not shake the feeling that Sammie was not out here. I didnt know what that meant, but I knew in my gut she wasnt here. I hoped, prayed and pleaded that it meant someone had picked her up and that was why I couldnt sense her anywhere, or hear her for that matter. After many more hours, many more calls and whistles and some absolutely amazing individuals and an amazing dog (Kay Lackey, what you do with your dogs and others who trust theirs with you is truly a gift, you have found your calling), it is with a heavy heart and eyes that cant stop crying, I must tell you that our Sammie was found. A dog that the search team was using to track Sammies scent finally located her early this afternoon, peacefully asleep on a hill, in the woods. Sammie crossed the rainbow bridge during the last 24 hours, I hope with the sun shining down warming her fur and the breeze rustling the trees. Our search team found her without injury, but gone nonetheless. We will never know if a scent trail took Sammie out of our yard, or if it was her instinct to pass away on her own terms, in a forest filled with the things she loved most. I hope it was the latter, that she knew it was her time and that she took herself to a place that made her feel content and at peace. If only we could all be that lucky. It has been a long, heart wrenching two days, but beyond the tears, the guilt, the frustration and the grieving, there is Sammie. A beagle that taught us what it means to foster, to save a life and to love unconditionally. Sammie will be missed by every member of our family, two legged and four. Beyond our house, Sammie will be missed by everyone who met her and those that have heard about this sweet lovebug of a hound, given a second chance at a life worth living. I cant begin to express the gratitude we have to Save Ohio Strays and those of your that came out to support our search and eventually, recovery, efforts. We hope that everyone that reads Sammies story understands that we are doing our best to process the loss of this wonderful girl and would do anything to have changed the outcome. Please say a little prayer or think a good thought for Sammie tonight. We will miss her greatly. RIP Sweet Sammie Girl, now you can chase every scent and bay as loud as you please!
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 14:53:46 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015