10/22/2020
HOW DID "THIS THING" GET STARTED??
Meet PRESLEY ..... on a dark June night in 2000, a Bassett hound was barking in front of a house in Lake Highlands which faces Flag Pole Hill.
It was 3 o'clock in the morning! A dog is barking, and every attempt to capture him only lead us farther down the hill ..... we can't seem to get him but tell him "buddy .... we will help you, you just have to work w us!" We went to bed.
The next day a neighbor calls and says one of our pups is laying in his yard. Of course we run out and find a skinny, hairless, 6 lb. wisp of a pup. Both eyes were infected and milky white and poor thing couldn't lift his head. Off we go to our vet! We were prepared to "do what needed to be done" as we thought this was an ancient pup in dire circumstances.
This dog was 6 months old! We had to try - he had mange, was starving and was severely dehydrated. 3 days later he was able to lift his head and ate something but it was discovered that he had a staph infection eating away at his eyes .... a cornea procedure needed to done THAT DAY which happened to be a Saturday. The surgery could not wait until Monday as his eyesight would be gone. That's not a choice ..... the universe knew we had just zeroed out our credit cards about 10 days before. Ugh! Eye surgery was $3,500.
Oh, that next night that same Bassett was howling in our front yard but this time let us catch him. That darn dog was trying to lead us down the hill to get help for his friend and traveling buddy! The Bassett also had mange and weighed about 45% of what he should have.
Meanwhile, the pup, who is now being referred to as "Presley" by the kids, goes into surgery. It's successful but a strip of meds n drops need to be administered every 3 hours for 10 days. OMG!!! Fortunately that regiment reduced over time. As he gained weight, an umbilical cord hernia emerged so .... that got fixed.
Presley was up for adoption and by that point we were $4,400 into "it" .... the writing was on the wall when he started sleeping in the bed w us :)
At that point in time, we were finding dogs at the park in front of White Rock lake often .... some got out and were returned to their home but some were strayed. We had a VERY HARD time getting help from the rescue world. People wouldn't share info, most vets in East Dallas didn't offer a rescue discount and it was hard to participate at adoption events as a guest. The experience w Presley solidified what had been in the works for some time ..... we needed to start our own group. We would be helpful, OPEN, inclusionary, offer community outreach and support to anyone that asked. White Rock Dog Rescue was born!
Who knew that little white Shihtzu would leave such a legacy. Oh .... it was my birthday the day those dogs were found. The Bassett, Blue Lou, also stayed w us and those 2 dogs were best friends their entire life .... Presley passed in February of 2018. He lived a long and happy life and impacted MANY people, dogs and cats. He certainly changed the path of our lives .... NO WAY would we have believed that we would run a rescue and to have it be around for so long.
Glad we were part of the experience, glad we could help ..... we, and everyone that helps us, are better for it ......
