Not all rescue stories are as dramatic as the saga of this elderly couple, Sammie and Sadie. And frankly, not all tales involving geezer Chihuahuas on the open road turn out so well.
It all started a little over a month ago when Mary Sweat of Placerville, her husband, and three of their pit bulls were on their way to Vegas for a convention. Among other things, Mary operates the small Christian Animal Rescue Foundation, which has usually focused on placing pitties who find themselves homeless. But as the Sweat family was passing through Tulare, they spied on an off-ramp two little brown dogs, disoriented in the traffic and in imminent danger.
Well, Mary couldn't stand this, and they managed to capture the two and take them to the local animal shelter—where, Mary quickly learned, they faced a bleak future, because they were probably not someone's beloved lost pets but someone's abandoned liabilities who had grown old and developed medical issues. Luckily for Sammie and Sadie, when the Sweats returned from Vegas, the dogs were released to CARF and Mary was on Facebook networking for a better situation for them; the best she had to offer the two, in her house that already included four dogs and numerous cats, was a room to themselves while they regained their strength — certainly an improvement over an untimely demise, but hardly ideal. She also started fundraising for their medical issues, which in Sadie's case included the need for serious dental work.
Just when things seemed at a standstill and it seemed that Sammie and Sadie would be in the spare bedroom forever, the sudden arrival of another rescue dog in need changed everything, causing another flurry of online networking and arranging of transports. A serendipitous connection near Redding resulted in Southern Oregon Animal Rescue hearing about Sammie and Sadie just as a transport was about to leave Napa. Voila, the two little darlings are now frisking in the grass, getting their medical attention, and will soon be available for adoption. Together, of course.
photo: Sammie and Sadie and friends—Southern Oregon Animal Rescue
