I got one of those emails yesterday afternoon that I hate to read –

“Hello everyone, My friend needs to find a home for his Labrador. He is 6 years old, inside dog and very friendly/loving. He has two small children and they are just taking precautionary measures. If they do not find a home by Friday they will bring him to the SPCA. The dog’s name is Frank.“

How do you do that? How do you simply discard years of loyalty? For no seeming reason. Precautionary measures?

Like someone unable to turn away from a train wreck, I scrolled down through the various messages to see the photos of Frank.

And I have to say, it was worse than I expected. Frank’s posture was so confident. His eyes warm and so filled with trust. He’s even a little chubby from living a pampered life.

He hasn’t a clue that his family doesn’t want him anymore. And that come Friday, he was “pound bound” if no one else wanted him.

With a sigh, I deleted all the extraneous comments and sent the original email to everyone I could think of.

Shortly afterward, I received an email from Sandra: Do a mass email.

Yes! A glimmer of light! Maybe we can save a life!

The email went out around midnight to a couple thousand people. Forty-five minutes later came the first response:

“I’ll take this dog if you can not find a home for him….I’ll stay back and prefer to let someone else take him, but please do not let him go to the pound. I will step up and take him if no one else will.”

The email responses continued coming in — some had questions, some expressed their disbelief and some to offer help.

At 2 pm came an email that Frank had a new home! He was moving to a farm in the country. Thirty-five acres. Guess that may help Frank lose a bit of that pampered house dog girth.

Best wishes, Frank!

Here are some of the messages received:

“franks owners SUCK. the least they could do is give poor frank a chance to not eat the kids… i say put THE owners in the SPCA”

“She is beautiful and I would love to have her, but we just adopted a male chocolate lab, Moses (9yrs) and a mix pointer, ????, named Bella (about 4 we think). I will ask my friends here at the beach where we live if anyone might like to adopt her. Please let me know if you find a home for oops, not her, him; Frank.”

“He is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L~ We are going to look at him! ”

“Frank deserves smarter owners that should be able to figure out that this dog could be great for their children and not a THREAT. ”

“Precautionary? I say LAZY. It infuriates me that so many humans think animals are disposable. After six years??? Unbelievable!!!!!”

“And why the deadline? If they really cared about their pet, they would find a new home themselves versus threatening to take him to the SPCA—where he will more than likely be put down. And for what reason?????”

“If you want to do this poor dog a favor, please return this to Franks’ owners.”

“Do they not know that children that are raised with a dog have less allergies and are sick less that children with out a dog in the house. Tell them to read up on this. I do not know how someone who has had a pet for 6 years can just give him up.”

“Remind them that My little brother as an infant was saved by this type of Dog .. He ran out in front of a moving car and the Dog pulled him out of the way,.. so the family should rethink.. I would not worry about the dog but, the parents fear of the unknown.. the baby will be protected by the dog.”

“do they have an acre for mr ? I have no flees..”

And then came the one I was waiting for –

“Frank found a home. I had a friend call to retrieve him and the owner said he had been relocated. Great job.”

Thank you, Sandra, for opening your heart and your network to helping Frank.

And thank you to everyone who participated today. We saved a life!

How was your day?

Un beso, Holly.

Imagine this. You are driving down a desolate stretch of North Dakota highway when you notice two dogs running down the side of the highway towards you. You pass them. When you look in your rear view mirror, you see that they have turned around and are running in your direction.

What do you do?

If you are a rescuer or an animal lover, your knee jerk reaction is to pull over and help them. And this is exactly what one of our members did. She stopped. There were no houses in sight and no cars on the road. The dogs were thin, matted, filthy and covered with sores and ticks. She and her friend put the dogs in the back of her car.

They stopped at the nearest farm house and, through a phone call, the dogs’ story came out. Buster and Patches belonged to Jerry.

To him, they were the world. He took them everywhere he went; his companions; his closest friends. But Jerry passed away the week before. His funeral service was that day, an hour from the time they were found.

Jerry’s family did not want Buster and Patches. They planned to destroy them. They had locked the dogs in the barn, but they escaped.

When they were found running down the highway that Thursday morning, they were already 25 miles away from home and still running. It’s as if they knew what fate awaited them if they stayed.

So with everyone’s okay, Buster and Patches went home with Robin to lower Saskatchewan.

It’s been three weeks now. Though they still show signs that they miss Jerry and their old life, they are adjusting. They have been groomed and de-ticked, and their sores are mostly healed. They are vaccinated and fixed.

And now they are searching for a loving family.

Buster (above) is a Brittany mix, about 4 yrs old. Patches (right) is a lab/collie mix, a bit older but not much. Their foster mom says they are well-behaved, good boys. (Click photos to see larger image. Or click here to see more photos.)

Are you the family for them?

Let’s Adopt! conditions for adoption:

1. Family MUST have an existing animal.
2. Animal MUST live inside the home, not on the garden.
3. Animal MUST be fed raw (http://rawlearning.com).

We do not apply an adoption fee. One can’t buy any Let’s Adopt! dog or cat.

Contact: viktor@myletsadopt.com

If you are not the family for Buster and Patches, please SHARE their story with your friends and family… and help us find them their new home.

And please join us on Facebook!

Ciao, Holly