Scarlett
(Published July, 2000)
If you’ve been a frequent visitor to our
site or are a newsletter subscriber, you’ve no doubt noticed that we’ve had
a run of bad luck throughout 1999 and into 2000. Perhaps not really bad luck,
but rather a streak of loved ones passing on that is really a part of life —
we just didn’t think it fair that it all hit us at such a rapid pace. Having
lost a mother, two uncles, a friend, and two of our dogs – one quite
tragically – all in the span of less than a year left little time to heal from
one loss to the next. But we have good news to share this time with the tale of
devastating loss leading to the gift of life.
In late September, 1999, we lost our precious
Stubby to accidental drowning (click here for her story.)
The pain and grief was overwhelming. At that time, we could not see a reason or
a purpose for such a loss and, in fact, could not see past the grief itself. I
am hesitant to believe that there was a reason for the loss of such an innocent
life. I refuse to believe that whomever is in charge of the universe purposely
takes innocent lives. It was an accident, pure and simple. But, we are where we
are at any given moment in life because of the series of events that brought us
to this moment. Such is the case for how we came to have little Miss Scarlett.
Just a couple weeks after losing Stubby, we
knew we had to get another doxie...not to replace her, but to fill her
spot as the fifth Board Member of Dachshund Delights. We just couldn’t stand
saying that we had four doxies when for several years it had always been five
doxies. So we started searching the dachshund rescue sites for someone close to
us when we landed on the Dachshund Rescue of Ohio, Inc., AKA Kathleen’s Wild
Wiener Ranch (click here for her story.)
We had met Kathleen a few years before so we were hopeful that she could help us
start the road to recovery.
We visited Kathleen’s site again at the
beginning of this year to check the status of Papa Ollie (click here for his story) and to see who had
been adopted out of the doxies we had met in October when we visited her. There
we read about a recent puppy mill bust. The local animal shelter had done the
bust, but Kathleen had stepped in and rescued the doxies. On her Web site was
the list of doxies from that rescue. And there, jumping out in bold (to our
eyes) was the description of a longhair, silver dapple girl. We couldn’t stand
it. We had to call.
Two weeks later, little Miss Scarlett came
home with us.
The first ten months of her life could have
been something out of a Dickens novel. The product of a puppy mill, she was
destined to be a puppy-machine. Her living conditions were pure squalor. Her
short life was spent in the confinement of wire cages. She was filthy, her
beautiful silver dapple hair matted with feces and fleas, her belly fat with
worms. Her "brother", a handsome chocolate dapple longhair, was in
such bad grooming condition that maggots were eating away at his skin. Rescue
came too late for another of the waifs ... he died of extreme flea infestation.
Another’s tail was badly infected and had to be amputated.
When the dogs were taken out of the cages and
put on the floor, they didn’t know what to do. They just sat there,
dumbfounded. The case is in the court system right now, awaiting charges for
over 100 counts of animal neglect. Unfortunately, Ohio’s anti-cruelty laws are
antiquated, in much need of revision, so we are not hopeful that the scourges
will get any sort of punishment. Their only loss will most likely be financial
as all the dogs were confiscated, including their so-called "house
pets." As of June 2000, the court case is over and the defendants
received 6 months in jail, 200 hours of community service, and a fine.
After she was cleaned up and she received the
proper veterinary care, Scarlett was placed in a loving foster home where
someone could be with her during the day to work with her. She was terrified of
anything new. At 10 months old, she didn’t know how to play. She didn’t know
what toys were for. She didn’t understand anything about housebreaking. She
knew nothing but the inside of her cage and the hands that brought food, but no
love. She had no name, no concept of what a house pet should do.
She was shy and timid. Loud noises frightened
her. Her refuge and comfort was sitting on someone’s lap to be held and
cuddled. It was a new experience for her and she liked it.
We understood her circumstances and were
willing to provide her with the extra care and training she would require. We
are long-time, experienced dog owners so the challenge did not hinder us from
offering her a home. We knew what we were most likely getting in personality and
training challenges….what we hadn’t counted on was getting three
for the adoption price of one. Miss Scarlett, unbeknownst to anyone, was pregnant.
She had been, unknown to the shelter, impregnated in the brief period during
which they held her.
All adoptees that leave Kathleen’s Wiener
Ranch are spayed or neutered. But because of the circumstances of rescuing so
many at once, the available funds went first to those in the most serious
condition. Kathleen knew us and had adopted to us before. We assured her we
would have Scarlett spayed – I didn’t want to wait another two to three
weeks to get her and that would be one less expense Kathleen would have to pay
for.
When we picked up Scarlett from the rescue
transport, we thought that she looked a little pregnant, but thought perhaps her
belly was still swollen from the worm infestation. But within a week's time, her
belly had doubled. A trip to the vet confirmed it: Scarlett was pregnant.
Of course
we would keep her. In just a week’s time, she had landed herself right in the
middle of our hearts. A dainty, petite little girl, she was all girl, just like
we wanted. She loved being cuddled, and her warm blue and brown eyes told her
story: she just wanted someone to love her. We loved her – and Rhett loved
her. He was the happiest we’ve seen him since Stubby died. He danced and sang
and offered his toys to her. She was his new girlfriend. And those were his
puppies inside her. That was his story and he was sticking to it … (we were
not to tell anyone that he was neutered.)
In the days that followed, we made
preparations for the coming event. It had been a long time since we had assisted
in a delivery so we needed to freshen our memory. Everything was set and we
anxiously awaited the big day.
On the morning of February 17, just 9 days
after what would have been Stubby’s 7th birthday, Scarlett began making her
preparations. By 4:00 p.m. labor began. By 4:45 it was obvious there was
trouble. Of course, this had to happen on a Thursday, the day that our vet is
closed. We located the closest ("close" where we are is 30 minutes)
vet that was open in the evening and rushed Scarlett there. X-rays revealed
three large pups, all coming down the birth canal breech (rear end first). The
first pup was finally trying to pass through (back paws first), but Scarlett
just couldn’t get it to go through on her own. The vet tried to assist by
pulling the puppy out, but it would not come and was causing Scarlett great
distress. It was determined that the first puppy most likely was dead (having
been in the birth canal too long) and that a Caesarean section should be
performed to save the other two. But before they could get Scarlett to surgery,
she attempted again to pass the first puppy. With more assistance from the vet
techs, the first puppy was born ... but sadly, as the vet had predicted, she was
already dead. She was a huge puppy. She was as large at birth as what the two
living pups were at a week old, and even they were of good size at birth. She
had created quite a log-jam.
The two little lasses and Scarlett made it
through surgery. The newborns were sent home with us and Scarlett stayed the
night at the vet until she was awake and strong enough to come home. All are
doing quite well and we have two beautiful silver dapple little girls that are
strong and plump.
Scarlett has proven to be a fine mother for
one so young herself. And she has started to show us her true personality. She
no longer cowers at normal sounds and sights. She gleefully greets the other
dachshunds (especially Peewee, our 14 year old) and she is not shy about coming
to us for attention. Her tail works quite well and, although she has not really
played with any object yet, she shows excitement at just being with the other
doxies. She comes running when we call, her ears flapping and her beautiful eyes
(one blue, one brown) light up with happiness.
We buried the puppy that didn’t make it next
to Stubby and posthumously named her Bonnie, after the daughter of Scarlett O’Hara
and Rhett Butler (in Gone With the Wind) who died as a child from falling
off her pony.
The circle of life (at least in this story) is
now complete. And perhaps our luck is changing.
Click here to see
even more pictures of Scarlett's pups.
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