Good Samaritans

On Saturday night I was returning home from pet sitting when traffic slowed to a stop. It was 10:45 p.m. so I was worried it was an accident involving person or animal. So when it was my turn to go, I noticed that it was a black dog walking between the lanes of traffic. So I passed the dog and pulled over, grabbed my cell phone and started toward the dog. (*Ok, let me say one thing here...if you ever decide to stop for a dog or any animal, please know what you are doing. You can really get hurt if you don't. And that is not to say that I do know what I am doing, it is more like when it comes to animals, I have no fear and that is not always a good thing...a 4 foot black snake I picked up at my parent's house 2 years ago comes to mind.. I digress..)
So, as I am walking, someone with no patience or maybe not caring comes about 2 inches from hitting the dog. I then knew I needed to act fast. So, I bent down and yelled " Here Doggie, Come"! And the dog stops, looks at me and comes running right to me. When she gets to me, she about knocks me over with her wiggling, happy body. At this same time a Good Samaritan gets out and comes to help me. It is dark, I have no flash light and the only thing I can see is SADIE on her tag. There is a phone number, I just can't read it. The man who is helping me is then joined by his friend and their 2 wives. We finally get the phone number and I call. No answer. Oh great. So, we move over toward the headlights of our cars just to make sure and I try again. This time the owner answers the phone and says that he will be there. I grab a leash from car, snap it on Sadie and I wait. The people thank me for stopping, I thank them for stopping and they leave. I then stand there with Sadie waiting for her owner. He comes, and there is a happy reunion. I can tell they are truly happy to see each other. He tells me that Sadie dashed out the door past him and got out of the yard. He was getting dressed to go look for her when I called. This can happen to any pet owner, and one of my fears. I went home and hugged my 3, thankful it wasn't one of them.

This story had a happy ending, but the important part of it is this, you never know when you can make a difference in someone or in this case an animal's life. No matter how small, you can make a difference. I hope I can. I am going to try.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not."

— Dr. Seuss, from The Lorax