She is an unlikely fairy princess with her pronounced underbite and her arthritic, bowed legs. Dainty she isn’t. She can snore like a whole chorus of chain saws and has a gas issue that is …. well … astonishing. Still, there are elements of Bert’s story that are the stuff of fairy tales: a dark prison, a wicked stepmother, two pampered and spoiled stepsisters gussied up in Malty-poo costumes and finally—and best of all!—a handsome Prince Charming.
Jim might seem an unlikely Prince Charming—a tall, martial artist with a mellow-bass voice. “I’m not always a terribly nice person,” he says with a laugh. (Although that is not true.) Jim is kind. And his heart was touched by the geriatric English bulldog imprisoned in his sister’s Connecticut cellar.
Bert, originally the pet of Jim’s brother-in-law, had apparently been living in the cellar for some time. First one and then the second Malty-poo entered the household and became the darlings of the residence. The wicked stepmother claimed that Bert did not get on well with the spoiled stepsisters; perhaps that was her justification for keeping the old bulldog imprisoned. And perhaps it is unfair to cast Jim’s sister in the role of wicked stepmother (but we have to make this fairy tale work.) Still, it took all of the Prince’s charm and patience to wheedle Bert out of the dungeon by convincing the stepmother to turn her over to him. (more…)
THOSE WHO RESCUE OUR HEARTS
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010There are two stories here, both rather sad, unless—like me—you choose to view them as redemptive.
Bud arrived just when he said he would—a few minutes early in fact. He backed the truck slowly up the service drive toward the barn. Ann Marie had finished her business, and she and her vet tech were packing their van. She acknowledged Bud with a small salute.
We watched his arrival from the kitchen window.
“Please,” my daughter said, “could you take my checkbook and pay him? The check’s all filled out except for the dollars. I wasn’t sure of the final amount. And could you also ask Bud to please…take off…the halter?”
Since my self-designed job description was to provide emotional support, I overrode my resistance to go out there. I took the checkbook and went to meet the truck, stepping respectfully around the now-still horse. The two heavyset men in the cab looked like clones of each other; the one I took to be Bud began backing the truck carefully over the lawn. The passenger gazed at me dolefully. I went around to the driver’s door. (more…)
Tags: equine rescue, IG rescue, Rainbow Bridge, rescue repts, veterinarians
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