Hanna, A Living Legacy to a Recuer with a Big Heart

Hanna, A Living Legacy to a Rescuer with a Big Heart

By Michelle Andrews

As an animal rescuer you always start to dread the holidays a
nd the influx of little ones looking for new homes.   A multitude of reasons are given for them being surrendered: old age; a Christmas Puppy; a new baby; and some due to divorce.  Some of the cases touch your heart more than others and in doing so reinforce your belief in the goodness of others.  And remind you that others care for these lost ones as much as you do.  Hanna is a special case that touched my heart, and made the loss of a special fellow rescuer a mere few weeks later even that more difficult to bear.  But I am getting ahead of the story.

It all started with a call from the Humane Society in Pittsburgh PA, a tearful elderly couple had turned- in their eight year old mini schnauzer.  She had severe bladder stones and they could not afford the surgery she needed to survive and felt surrendering her was the best chance she had at survival.  Because of the urgency of her condition, she could not wait for a spot at a no-kill shelter and had been turned into an open door shelter.  If a rescue could not be found to be responsible for her care and fostering, this would be the end of the line for little Hanna.  Her sweet temperament and unfortunate circumstances touched the intake coordinator at the shelter and made her start dialing the phone.

Recognizing the urgency of the situation and the need to get her safe and out of pain, we knew we needed to get her surgery before a transport could be made to get her into a foster home.  My personal vet, Dr. Boyce, would be able to get her in for emergency surgery that evening before her bladder ruptured.  Even with the discount we were receiving – it was going to be a costly surgery – an uncertain prospect with so many other medical cases in rescue taxing the medical funds at one time. 

Hearing of Hanna’s plight, one of our board members, Ray Ford, didn’t hesitate to contact me and tell me to get her in surgery a.s.a.p.  He would sponsor $1,000 of her surgery.  He wanted her to have a chance at a good life free of pain.  We put everything in motion, and that afternoon a fellow rescuer in Pittsburgh, Debi, went to pull her from the shelter and brought her to the vet’s for the pre-op.

I fell in love at first sight with Hanna, a little dark silver and black female with the sweetest disposition ever.  She weighed in at 18 pounds, all spunky sugar-coated terrier attitude.  She quickly won over the hearts of every staff member she came in contact with, including her surgeon Dr. Hladio.

I kissed her little head and left her in the capable hands of the staff to prep her for surgery. 

A few tense hours later I received the call that she was doing excellent post-op and Dr. Hladio had removed a pound and a half of stones that had completely filled her bladder.  She was resting comfortably and would recover fully.  She went to her foster home the next day to recover and was quickly adopted by a fellow rescuer in Pennsylvania that had lost her little girl over the summer.  She is now living the good life with her new Mom and Dad and a fur brother; enjoying long naps on heated bathroom floors and all of the good things that go with her new home.

Sadly, Ray Ford left us on January 4^th.  He is at the Rainbow Bridge with all of the other rescues and rescuers that have gone before, carrying on the good work he began while here on earth.  There is a void in the rescue without him, and I keenly feel his loss every day I check email and find no new jokes in my inbox from him.  He was always able to put a smile on your face when your day was missing some sunshine. 

Being a dog rescuer is a tough road to travel, and there are many tears that are shed in both joy and in sadness over those that can’t be helped.  The Hannas make you try every day, those that you can give a new leash on life to. 

I think Ray is smiling down on us knowing that Hanna is his living legacy and testament to how big his heart was for the little ones in need.  He touched many lives in more ways than he knew.  Lots of fur babies will be continuing to walk with us because of his generous ways…after all “you can’t take it with you.”