in the eye of the storm

not many know that buddy and sissy were not their names when they arrived here. they were taco and chica but i was so pissed off on the day that they arrived that i decided to name them plain jane simple boring names in passive aggressive revenge and to make a point.

these little inncocent and very icky chi's were in the center of a rescue political storm. part of the rescue group felt life-long responsiblity for taking them on...and the other part felt they had done more than enough and was looking for a way out.

they had ended up in limbo, sitting for weeks in cages at the vets. money was offered for saints to take them..special vet accounts were to be set up for their exclusive use...it wasn't the vet costs that were threatening their lives, it was that they were too hopelessly difficult.

the group found a foster at the eleventh hour to take them on...she brought them here 2 weeks later on the day that we moved. she told me they were gross and did not care about humans, they only cared about each other. she left a $200 cheque on the counter which she cancelled 4 days later when i refused to adopt peter and daisy to her.

the rescue group called...all ready to set up their medical accounts but i said no..saints animals do not come in with personal medical doweries for their exclusive use...we share what we have with everyone and was not changing that to suit the collective guilt of the group.

anyway..i named them buddy and sissy because i wanted to strip away all of the complicated drama, all of the convoluted excuses, all of the layers of benevolent betrayal that i felt they had suffered thru. i specifically picked names that i knew would never have been picked or sanctioned by the group had they still had control of these two.

i can be so pissy sometimes...not pretty, not nice..just angry that rescue dumped on me on my very stressful moving day, when i was sick with pneumonia and trying to settle 80 animals in their brand new home, what they won't follow thru with.

i never was angry with buddy and sissy..i fell in love when those two stinky, hairless, scabby dogs crawled out of their crate and into my arms. i took weeks and months of flack from people who came here and saw them and thought i was cruel and they should be dead based solely on their smell and looks.

buddy and sissy brought something special to saints like no other saint has since...that totally disgusting looking and foul smelling dogs who piss and shit on EVERYTHING, can in fact be deeply loved, can in fact be cared for and treated like normal dogs, can somehow become beautiful in the eyes of their beholders once we got to know them and were used to seeing them and once we learned that holding and hugging and loving them...was truly wonderful.

they brought us some wonderful friends in pat and ernie who for the entire 5 years of their lives with us continued to support us where and whenever they could.

that rescue group blew apart over buddy and sissy...they fragmented into separate groups both convinced they were right.

in the end the bad guys probably were right to unload those little dogs here...buddy and sissy have been so truly loved, they have been as well cared for as any priceless treasure. they made us be better rescuers here...more compassionate, more respectful, more accepting of difficult lives. they made us be able to see past the obvious, deal with the reality and slowly watch the possibilities unfold.

buddy and sissy were our talisman of how rescue is really done.

i will love them and truly miss them for all of the very soft magical wonder that they brought into our lives at saints.

good dogs.