It was like being a fairy godmother

Or perhaps, a fairy dogmother…

In October, I launched the Dalmatian Rescue of Puget Sound web site, where I listed Dalmatians in need of new homes. On Halloween, I sent an e-mail to 3 people, telling them that I was going to form a Dalmatian rescue group. Within 10 minutes, I had 2 replies, with referrals to dogs in need. The first was a Dal that I knew was already being helped by Beth White of Dalmatian Rescue of Colorado. The other was a 15 year old female from Yakima. Animal control had taken her from a situation where they felt she was being neglected to the point of starvation, but if they put her in the local shelter, she would be put down, because of her age. They took her to the Barks R Us rescue group, but they didn’t have a foster home available. They sent an urgent e-mail out to anyone they thought might help, including one of the 3 people I e-mailed. Within an hour, I was on the phone making plans to meet someone from the rescue group in Bellevue the next morning.

I knew that she had been neglected, but I was still shocked by how thin poor Pepper was when I picked her up. Despite looking like a skeleton in a fur coat, and having a very bad case of diarrhea, she seemed in good spirits. When I asked if she get along with other dogs, I was told that she had been living with Dobermans. It was thought that they were depriving her of food. She got to our house, took one look at my dogs, and decided she wasn’t going to let it happen again. She snapped and snarled at everyone. It made for a very interesting couple of weeks.

Pepper set up housekeeping in our laundry room, with Boudreaux the cat for a roommate. They got along quite nicely, but she wasn’t content in the laundry room. She longed for human company. I spent as much time with her as I could, but with 4 other needy dogs in the house, it was difficult to do much except feed, walk, and fuss over dogs. Somehow in my “spare” time, I managed to get in contact with the Puget Sound Dalmatian Club. They were very supportive, and shared our web site with the membership. That is how our sweet princess, Pepper, found her new home with a wonderful couple in Auburn who promise to spoil her for the rest of her life.

This is what Pepper looked like on the day she arrived:

This is Pepper 2 weeks later, fresh from her bath and ready to go to her new home:

This is Princess Pepper in the chariot, ready to go to her new home:

It was a lot of fun having a princess in the house again, but it was obvious that my house full of rowdy males was not the right home for her, even though the laundry room is Dalmatian themed! I’m so happy that I could be part of her “happily ever after”. Rescue is challenging, but the happy endings make it very worthwhile.