On Tuesday, November 29, 2016, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and give. United Way of Laramie County and Black Dog Animal Rescue partnered to encourage excitement and engagement about giving opportunities within Laramie County. They recognized that we should all be taking advantage of the compounding effect of multiple participating organizations on #GivingTuesday.
To show you one of the many very special cases your donations are helping, meet Luna.
Luna... a dog who was running out of time and options.
The Story
The e-mail, a last-ditch plea to save her life, came on November 2nd.
Originally adopted from a shelter in Seattle as a puppy, Luna was re-homed and found herself in Denver. For unknown reasons, she was picked up a stray and even though her owner was located, they opted to surrender her.
Luna was terrified. Though she may be big, Luna is certainly not tough. And she hurt. She had a urinary tract infection, the shelter staff noted blood in her urine each day. When she wasn’t pancaked to the floor in fear, she walked with tender, hesitant steps. She growled at those who sought to help her, warning of her pain, fear, and heartache.
Despite their best efforts to help her feel safe and happy, the shelter staff soon realized their busy kennels were no place for Luna. Her quality of life was rapidly deteriorating, she was not responding to their affections. Ultimately, the decision to humanly euthanize her was made.
Then something changed
There is a heart-wrenching note in her records. A single, life-altering line. It says “@ time of euth dog was easily kenneled and friendly as she walked down the hall……necessity to get dog placement ASAP. 48 hours.”
On her very last day, on her very last walk, Luna showed she had the potential to recover. She was given two more days to find another place to go.
Meanwhile
On November 2nd, we were busy planning for the arrival of more than 8 other new dogs. It's easy to get bogged down in the sadness and helplessness that animal rescue can be, and we'd recently felt the need to reconnect with the fundamental values that helped us create this program: providing safety and second chances for so many precious animals, being a force for change and good in a time when it’s difficult not to question whether any of that is still possible.
There were 8 dogs already, and 45 others here to attend to – and the e-mail came in for Luna.
And we said yes.
And tears were shed. Amongst so much change and tension and anxiety – the opportunity to say yes to a dog when everyone else had already said no was just the thing we needed at BDAR to remember who we are. There was just something about her, she brought us back to our roots.She was big, and black, and blocky. She’d been turned away by others closer to the Denver community. She was, literally, a very last-chance dog. And we got to save her.
The next day
On November 3rd, Luna and 8 others made their way to BDAR. They came from every direction on the compass. They crowded our tiny facility. They smelled terribly, they cried, they ran around the yard, they barked and pooped and some hid in the back of their kennels. The received vaccinations, exams, microchips, and warmth and welcome. At the end of that, they went home with foster families and slept, for the first time in a long time, in beds and on blankets, in the company of people who wanted the very best for them.
Luna is still being treated for her UTI. But she’s already become a favorite and has earned off-leash privileges in her foster home, which boasts 600 acres of ranchland and allows the dogs to move about and enjoy sunny days. She likes her foster siblings, she avoids the mean cat. She wants her ears rubbed and leans her heavy frame against the legs of those she trusts.
Luna will get adopted, and she’ll have the rest of her life to run and play. Her broken heart will heal and in the amazing way dogs have of loving someone new, she’ll give herself over entirely to the family who adopts her.
Say "yes" again
Because of her, we were reminded in the most powerful way that BDAR is here, that it thrives, because of love. We have a vision of ensuring a better future for the pets and people of Wyoming. To us, that vision means saying yes again and again to dogs just like Luna. It means celebrating the little bits of love and light that go back out into our community after it’s worked so hard to help sustain us.
When you give to BDAR, you’re taking a small stand. You’re making just a little statement about the kind of place you want to live and about the future you envision for your community.
This #GivingTuesday, give a gift to ensure the next time one of those e-mails comes, we’re here to say yes again. Donate for Luna, and all of those like her – because together we are making a difference, one precious life at a time.
