Posted on 09/24/2005 11:02:05 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
A chance meeting at an Independence animal shelter has left a relocated Hurricane Katrina victim without his longtime pet.
John Wyrick, who moved to the area from Mississippi following the hurricane, had taken his German Shepherd to the shelter approximately two weeks ago after learning he would not be able to keep it at a temporary residence.
He released his pet of 14 years to a stranger while searching for a place to live. After finding a home, he has learned he can't have his dog back.
Wyrick met with an unidentified woman visiting the shelter, said Amy Wells, shelter manager.
"He wanted the animal shelter to take the dog. They started talking," Wells said. "He decided he wanted to give the dog to her. I told them you cannot do the transfer on our property."
After that point the story becomes unclear. What is known is Independence resident Lynn Nevills eventually ended up with the dog. Wyrick could not be reached Friday.
City of Independence spokesperson Irene Baltrusaitis said the shelter believes Nevills is not the woman who spoke with Wyrick because she differs in body type and description. Nevertheless, at some point Nevills took possession of the dog. After Wyrick found a permanent residence, he approached Nevills about recovering his pet of 14 years.
Nevills reportedly has refused to return the dog. Nevills was at her home Friday afternoon but would not respond to requests for comment. The sound of a dog could be heard outside of her north Independence home.
Residents throughout the area have offered Nevills money or puppies as an incentive to return the dog to Wyrick after seeing the story on television.
Nevills is not a shelter volunteer. She has volunteered with the Independence Police Department's K-9 unit, according to Baltrusaitis.
Nevills and her husband have done grass and landscape work, as well as raised money for the department's K-9 program.
"We don't have volunteers who take care of dogs," Baltrusaitis said." The volunteers take care of other things."
To reach Andre Riley, e-mail andre.riley@examiner.net or call (816) 350-6362.
"Heard a few morons about a month or two back whine about how we ban trolls instead of debating them"
Well, since you're a troll hunter, I reckon it sure beats having them stuffed and mounted....:)
[what's the bag limit, anyway?]
I found both of your stories touching, stories about our pets trying to recover from losing their original families and going on to a new family...
This reminded me of an experience I once had...I have worked in nursing homes for several years...many of our residents have had to give up their beloved pets, when they come into the nursing home...and this is so hard on them...they will talk to you about their pets, keep pics of their pets on their nightstands...
There was an elderly gentleman I took care of, who was very old, and terminally ill with cancer, and was basically in the nursing home to be cared for while living out his last few months of life...he had a little dog, ,that he loved to much, and when he talked about the little dog, he just cried so much, ,it broke my heart...he had given up his dog, and made a great effort to find someone who would adopt his beloved pet, and give the dog a good home...he found a wonderful middle aged lady who loved the dog, and the dog seemed to bond with her as well..
As the weeks went on, and his condition worsened, the old man had one last wish...to see his little dog again...the nursing home, hoping to assist this man in granting his last wish, was able to contact the woman, and asked her if she would be willing to bring the dog to the nursing home to visit the old man...she was very willing, and she was overjoyed that she could help this old man...
And so one afternoon, she came in with the little dog...the old man wanted to be dressed up in his best clothing, and wanted to be seated in his wheelchair when he saw his little dog again...he did not want to be in his hospital gown, in bed...for whatever reason, he wanted to look his best and put on the best face, for his little dog...
When the woman and the little dog got to the nursing home, you could just tell that this woman loved the dog, and the dog loved her...they had been together for some months, from the time the old man had to be in the nursing home...and the woman and the little dog, just seemed to be a loving pair...seems like you can always tell, when a pet and its owner love each other...
But when the woman and the dog went into the old mans room, the little dog, just began to jump up and down, and just scream....he was so excited to see his old owner...the old man was crying, the woman was crying, I was crying, as was just about everyone else in the nursing home, who saw this reunion...not a dry eye in the house...it was so touching...
The woman stayed for an hour or two, putting the little dog in the old mans lap....I believe that hour or two, was the happiest time this old man had spent in a long, ,long time...all too soon, the time came for the lady to leave...the old man kissed his dog good bye, for the final time...more tears started to flow from everyones eyes...the woman and her little dog left...the little dog seemed sad to leave his old owner, yet at the same time, willingly and happily went with his new owner...it was as if, the little dog knew, ,that his old owner was going to die soon, and that the lady, his new owner would take care of him in the future as she had been doing all along...dogs do sense these things...
Soon aftewards, within days, the old man died...but I know, for those few short hours, with his dog, he was a happy, blessed man, who in spite of his pain and illness, and very near impending death, found pure joy in the friendship and love of his dog...
It burns me up no end, when folks act like our beloved pets, are just belongings, just things...they are not just belongings, just things...for many people, pets are very often the one thing in their lives, that give some sense of meaning and love to their lives...
What in the world is the point of this post? Insults? Why?
Himalayan? Maybe. Terribly cute!
Quite honestly I thought that's what you were saying.
Thank you for that bitter/sweet post.
Aw man.
Just when I thought I was all done crying this month.
What a beautiful, heart-breaking story.
My greatest fear is that I will die somewhere away from my dogs and they will think that I willingly abandoned them.
I couldn't take that and neither could they.
When my beloved old gal died on the way to the vet, I "felt her leave".
We brought her back home and laid her on "her spot on the sofa" so the other dogs could see her one more time.
One by one, they sniffed and nuzzled her and I suppose, said their goodbyes.
The usually rowdy and raucous hounds were all unnaturally somber, subdued and silent.
The next day, we buried her in the front yard, very near where her "spot on the sofa" is, but outside of the house wall.
The other dogs were still silent.
We placed her in the ground in her favorite blanket and as soon as the first shovelful of dirt went over her, low, eerie, endless and mournful howls came from within the house.
It was the most spine-tingling, nearly subsonic sound I've ever heard.
They -knew- and I suppose that was their equivalent of funereal bagpipes or somesuch thing.
I'd never heard my hounds howl before and have never heard them howl again, since.
Glad to tell that story...I had not thought of that particular event in some time...this whole thread reawakened it in my mind...
By the way, I absolutely love your screen name...whenever my dad got extremely surprised or excited by something, he would holler out "Jumpin Jehosophat"....when we were little kids, that was something we always loved to hear from him....it usually meant dad had something incredulous to tell us, or some odd story was about to unfold, or something exciting was about to happen...it was a happy phrase for him to use to get all of our attentions...
Dunno if there is a bag limit.
But having them stuffed is a horrible idea as trolls are bad enough news 'alive'.
Stuffed, they're even worse if that is possible.
"What if they don't want one? I never did."
Yes, you don't like dogs, so why are in in this trhead at all?
You have failed to answer that, and you keep dancing around it and trying lame excuses such as "Because it's a free country."
The subject doesn't matter to you at all, so why bother with the thread, unless you're here to be disruptive or argumentive?
*sigh*
Suddenly I miss the old days when carnivals had "freak show" tents.....:)
extremely cute!
Yes, the 'strange creatures' sideshow was always fun.
And scary!....====8-O
LOL, always wanted to toss the Fiji Mermaid at someone.
Thanks for your kind words, and your incredible story...it gave me chills...you refer to your dogs as the hounds...do you have hounds?...I have had cocker spaniels, and many mixed breed dogs, and I have been owned by 3 basset hounds...tho I have loved all my dogs, and treated them all equally, still, its the basset hounds that tug at my heart...they are my favorites, tho I try never to let my other doggies know that...
When I was growing up, me and my brother(and my two male cousins who lived downstairs), had all manner of pets...dogs, cats, turtles, chameleons, birds...life without a pet was unthinkable...
So when I had my boys, I allowed, and encouraged them to have as many pets as we could afford to care for, and fit in the house...our home, was filled with dogs, cats, rabbits, and even some pet rats(who amazingly enough, are really quite sweet and affectionate, once you get used to them)....my older boy died many years ago, at age 15 from leukemia and my younger boy is a grown man of 31 and on his own...but the memories of my two boys, growing up in the country, throwing open the back door, and running in, covered in mud and dirt, and followed by a pack of cats and dogs at their heels, the smiles on all their faces(kids and animals alike), is a memory, that is precious and worth a million bucks...kids and their pets, is a winning combination...
And in our years without our children at home, the hubby and I had three dogs...two mixed breeds, and our last Basset, our dear Helga...they were all within a years age of each other, and they were a neat little pack that slept together, played together, ate together, loved each other, and loved me and the hubby...when one of the mixed breeds got very ill, I knew it was time to have her put down...I let her say her last goodbyes to the other dogs, and then sadly, took her out front to put her in the car for her last ride to the vets....as she crossed the front of the car, she just fell over, and died...it was as if, she was determined to die at home, not in a vet office...my husband built her a little coffin, and I put in her own personal favorite blankie, wrapped her in it...and she was buried out back under one of the big trees...
From that time one, the other mixed breed dog, mourned her, and was so sad...he could not be consoled, for after all, the dog we buried had been his mama...she had pups, and we found homes for them all, but kept him...so he had never known a life, without his doggie mom...and slowly he went downhill, and one morning, I woke to find him at my feet in bed, and he was also gone...so the hubby built him a coffin as well, and we wrapped him up in his favorite blankie, and buried him out back, right next to his mama...
The remaining dog, Helga the basset, seemed to be ok, but she was old, and we knew that soon, she also would go...within a few months, she also died...one evening, she just let out a blood curdling scream, fell over, and was gone..it was so quick..like the others, she is in a coffin my hubby made her, wrapped in her favorite blankie, and buried next to her two pals, under the big tree in the backyard...my three doggie babies, are all together in their own little cemetary, as is fitting, because they were altogether with each other in life....
Thanks for letting me ramble on about my dear dogs...they were a blessing to my life...
Aaaugh!
Not her!
We had a local tourist trap up in Blackwater Falls in WV and they had this..this *thing* in a chicken wire cage that used to scare the snot outta me every time we stopped there.
It turned out to be made of mud, straw, coon hair and cat claws and fangs but to a little kid it was a waking nightmare.
They called it the "wolf boy" or something like that.
My older cousin used to laugh because I wouldn't get too near the cage and then as I was leaning forward and looking, he'd shove me up against the wire and I'd squeal...:))
{{{{shudder}}}}
I always laughed about the Fiji Mermaid, it was a monkey torso arms nd head glued to the body of a fish.
They're Ibizan Honds.
Click my "me" page and you'll find a link to their website.
I've had *everything* for pets.
Rats are great.
I have 2 right now who were very sick pet store rescues that I brought home simply so they'd have a loving place to die but my doctoring was better than I thought...they're still alive and kicking...:))
My kin always called me "Ellie May" because wherever I went, a string of critters was usually following behind.
When I move through the house now, I am followed by a river of dogs.
Outside, I'm trailed by a gaggle of geese and one goat who thinks he's a dog..;)
You sound like the perfect mom and your kids were certainly blessed to have you.
My mom dislikes animals so I spent most of my childhood across the pasture at my gramma's house...and she too was always followed by a string of critters whereever she went.
[at least I came by it honestly]...:)
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