Dog Days

Last weekend, Tim and I adopted a dog from outside of Petco. Read on before you get too excited. A dog rescue group sets up there every weekend. So, we brought home this adorable "two year old dog" that tugged at our heartstrings. She was absolutely precious and so well behaved. The people with the rescue agency assured us that she was healthy and happy, but that she had just had puppies that were adopted faster than she was. We signed the papers, forked over the cash, and went in Petco to buy all of her goodies. With it being Memorial Day, we couldn't get her into the vet until Tuesday to get her shots, etc. So, quickly we fell in love with Molly. Dinah was actually really patient, but Molly was so excited to have a cat around, she kept lunging at her to play. We figured that the newness would wear off and they would settle in. On Tuesday , I loaded Molly into the car to see the vet. For some reason, I had a sinking feeling that something was going to go wrong. She had been coughing and sneezing lots and had trouble with going to the bathroom. The vets did some blood work, fecal samples, etc. Molly had coccidia (a parasite) and heartworm. She was a very sick little dog. The vet thought that she also might have been closer to five years old.

Tim and I were heart broken. We made the difficult decision to give her back to the rescue group. Her bills were going to hundreds of dollars, and the vet couldn't guarantee that she was very healthy. Despite being beside myself for having to give up the precious dog, and not knowing what would happen to her, I became angry with the rescue group. How hard would it be to disclose an animal's health concerns before someone decides to adopt them?? I realize that most rescue organizations operate in a much more professional manner, but this situation has made me leary of ever adopting a dog again. I will be sure to do more research on the reliablilty of an organization before giving my heart away again!!