Saving Miss Daisy

Daisy

I live in Israel for most of the year but travel to my other home here in Brattleboro during the summers and occasionally during my winter breaks (I teach at the American International School) in order to visit with my elderly mother, see a handful of friends, and photograph.  

When I arrived back here, more than two weeks ago, I noticed a trail in the snow in my yard going from the woods to my back door.  It was wide, well worn and I imagined that I had a bear living there (we have had lots of sightings) and he/she wanted the warmth of my house to cozy up to.  

I was wrong.  

After studying this path for several days, I saw a dog looking back at me. This dog had the most wonderful face and seemed to be searching for something or someone.  The Dog appeared to be competent at caring for itself and if I opened my door was quick to run from its safe spot in my backyard woods.  

So I started leaving food.  My friends Joseph and Mary brought over a bag of dried dog food and we started feeding The Dog.  I then went out and bought canned food and left it on my step.  

I never saw The Dog eat this, but I would find it gone, usually after a few hours.  

So I went out and bought some bones and left these out too.  The Dog was eating well.  

But this is winter and this is Vermont.   My instincts told me that the cold of this season would accrue and I looked at the weather charts and saw severe cold weather not far off on the horizon.  So Joseph and Mary got in touch with the Humane Society and with my permission, we put a cage onto my land, covered it with a blanket and put food inside to attract it.  I continued to feed The Dog ignoring the advice that we should only give The Dog food in the cage so that it would be forced to go inside where it would be caught.  My idea and I am by far not an expert, was that if it got used to getting food from me and if there was food in the cage only yards from where I was feeding it, The Dog would come to think of my backyard as a place of very much needed food.  So I bought another bone and that quickly disappeared.  

Late at night, I heard the crashing of the metal lid to the cage.  I waited to hear a plaintive cry, barking, or sound of an animal caught and in anguish but only silence issued forth from the back of my yard.  

So I went out with a flashlight and peered into the cage.  What I saw, what I witnessed in those few seconds, confirmed not only my suspicions from my views of The Dog over these days but also my feeling about many strays in general.  The Dog wanted to be caught.  It sat in the cage shaking and resigned, sad and yet dignified.  It was wet from the rain we had during the ice storm and at least now in this cage with a blanket over it, was a bit warmer and a bit dryer.  

When the police officer came at 2 in the morning, we dragged the cage to his car.  It was too big to fit into his back seat, so he looped the open end of a catch pole over The Dogs neck and led her to the backseat of his car.  I expected her to fight or put up some resistance but instead, The Dog willingly complied and sat resignedly on his back seat.  I asked the officer to pump up the heat so that this beautiful animal could finally start getting warm.

But this story does not end.  I called the next day and checked in on The Dog and was told that it was chipped and that it came from Bennington but that was all they knew or all they would tell me.  

I had to leave for few days but planned my trip so that on Wednesday I would stop by the Humane Society to check in on The Dog.

I did this.  When I got there The Dog was out being walked and I was filled in a bit more on the story of The Dog.  Her name is Daisy.  She had been missing since June and had come from Bennington.  Her owners were contacted and they were ecstatic that she was still alive and had been found.

 I finally got to see her and sat on the floor trying to give her a homemade dog biscuit that I had bought for her in Craftsbury.   She seemed scared and kept her distance from me only sniffing at this treat.  

Today I saw a photo of the happy reunion that Daisy had with her family.  They were hugging her and from the photo I could see that she was in heaven.  

What Daisy teaches me, teaches us, is that we all have the ability to fend for ourselves, to survive on our own, and that we can exist on almost nothing.  Yet, the joy that a beautiful animal that Daisy demonstrated when she was reunited with her family, clearly shows that the quality of life is greatly enhanced and validated when the most important ingredient is added.  That, of course, is love.  

Happy New Year to Daisy.    

--

-->