Rascal's Story

By Chris Carter

Dallas, Georgia

I read once that a dog is God's way of showing us how to be happy. In respect to that, I believe he sends people, friends, strangers and even animals into our lives at a certain time for comfort or to teach us lessons. God uses the most unlikely things to show us his love. This is a story about an unlikely Dachshund who eventually became Rascal.

My love for Dachshunds began several years ago with Harley, a friend's dog. My wife's love for Dachshunds began with Rascal. To me, there will be no other breed. Dachshunds love with all their being. I am not saying there aren't other wonderful breeds. Growing up I had a Husky, Cocker Spaniel, and many 'Sooners' (sooner be one breed or another). My wife, Anna, and her family raised and bred Jack Russell Terriers and also had owned many other breeds as well. Now? Nothing but a Dachshund for Anna and me!

The day love dropped in...

Same day-same routine...It's almost July and Georgia is steaming up for another hot day. Only one more day until vacation and a year longing for the beach that began the day I left it a year ago. As I pull down my road and almost to the driveway, I see something at the edge of the woods. what is this small animal I see hopping through the bush? How strange, it's a Dachshund! As I got out of the car and went to the edge of the yard he disappeared farther into the brush. I called my wife, Anna, on the cell phone to tell her about this strange visitor! Although, living in a rural area it is never uncommon to walk out of your house and find a stray dog that someone dropped. However, as Atlanta has reached out its arm to pull our country into the city, this has become few and far between. I get to the house before I realize I had dropped my cell phone. So, I go back outside to locate the phone, and I know at this time he must have followed me back to the house.

Anna comes in from work, and nothing is really said about the dog. That night we were eating with my parents. they live next door, so we walked up the road to their house for dinner. As soon as we reach our porch step, we see the black and tan Dachshund under our step. He was very reluctant to come out from behind the steps. we left some turkey for him at the steps, hoping that maybe he would eventually come out. He didn't that night. I remember sitting in the living room that night, worring that the next morning he would have disappeared. however, my wife and her Mom worked on him the next day, and finally he came out from under the porch due to a new found love for hotdogs (thank God for Oscar Mayer!). The first thing that they realized was that his back leg was broken.

The Vet Visit

Off to the vet...the discovery of a microchip under his skin we hoped would mean the return to a loving family. They create these things to help return a pet to the one who loves them, right? Well, this chip almost meant doom for the Dachshund. They sooned learned that the same chip company the vet used did not make this particular chip. He instructed Anna to take him to our local Animal Control, as they should be able to read it. A temporary cast was placed on the dachshnd and off to hopefully find his owners. Unfortunately, somewhere between the dog coming out from under the porch and the short visit to the vet, Anna began to fall in love with the furry creature with the broken leg.

Animal Control

After arriving at animal Control, they convinced my wife to leave him with them for reasons that if he died in our possession or at our vet, that we could be held liable. Anna was told that he would be safe in their care; they would hopefully locate the owner with the chip and call us first for adoption if his owners did not take responsibility for him. My wife stated that his final words were, "Don't worry, we will place him in a separate medical kennel. Just look at it as free room and board." My mother always said to watch out for the use of the word "free" because most of the time it comes with a price attached and mostly hidden, but a price nonetheless. In this case, she was right again! This free room and board costs us a lot of sleep, tears, time, worry and stress. The good folks at Animal Control were explained to that we were leaving the next morning for Florida. It was the 4th of July on that Monday, and they would be closed. So, we told them to call us on Tuesday to let us know what was going on with him. they were given both of our cell phone numbers as well. Anna said that they wrote on the report not to adopt until speaking with us. after being convinced, she left choking back sobs and tears flowing down her face. We had done everything that we were supposed to do, and he was in the hands of experts. The people who seemed to care for his best interest; the oneswho wanted to help return him to his rightful owners. The ones who convinced us this was the correct thing to do, and the oneswho taught us a lesson, that law and ethics are two different things.

Knowing that the pup was safe, we made our way to the Gulf of Mexico. Of course, we talked off and on over the next few days about him. In the back of our minds, we hoped to adopt him. On Tuesday, we left a message with the recording at the Animal Control Office asking for an update on the dachshund. No call was returned to us on Tuesday or Wednesday. we thought that maybe they had found his owner, and that he was safe and finally at home. That Thursday Anna called back, and I could tell that something was wrong. All I could hear, of course, was her side of the conversation that consisted of, "You did what?", "No, I don't understand", "You had our numbers", "You promised we would be called first." As you can see from my perspective he was adopted out. My side of the coversation was, "Listen, Mr. that dog was promised to us!" Animal Control: "Well, the law states that within 36 hours we canadopt him out if the owner either cannot be found or if they no longer want him." Me: "Well, Sir, I understand legally he was adopted, but ethically he was supposed to be ours." I explained the whole siuation including what "Ed" told my wife the day she left him in their care, and "Jerk-face" on the phone would not listen. Very conveniently, they could not find the piece of paper that stated they would call us before adopting him out. I was very calm at first. Of course, we were told that they contacted the breeder on the chip, and that they contacted this person that purchased the dog. That person said that they gave him away and didn't have the number to the people who took him. They didn't want him back, either.

The Rescue

I don't think I explained that I live in a small town where everyone knows everyone. My Dad has been on the City Council for almost 20 years, my Grandfather served before him, my father-in-law is a builder in the county. I myself was a banker in the community for years, and my wife is a local schoolteacher. So, growing up you kind of get to know most everyone. It didn't take long to have a call into the Marshall's office, and a Commissioner calling Animal Control demanding that they get the dog back. The head of the Marshall's office happened to be on vacation that week. But, the Commissioner's call and a personal visit from my in-laws did the trick. So, when we called back, we were informed that he was adopted to a Pet Rescue. We would have to contact the rescue lady to see if she would give us the dog back.

So, we then called the rescue and spoke to the owner of the rescue. Of couse, we were explained to that he had a broken leg and had been neutered for extra measure. Surprise? Not really, because the blue temporary cast he had on when she adopted him was paid for by us! I was at the end of my rope by the time I spoke to her. Here we are on vacation; my wife is hysterical. All of this made me determined to get this dog back to us. So, of course, I agreed to pay the vet bill and her $200.00 fee just to get him back. Upon our return on Monday, my wife and I were in Animal Control's office. We just wanted them to understand our struggle with how the situation was handeled. We wnated that validation from them. We didn't appreciate the fact that we, who truly wanted this dog, would be treated in such a careless manner. Once we put our points out there, Animal Control decided to work with us. they convinced the rescue lady to waive her $200.00 fee. We still had to complete a ten page application and a house visit. When he was dropped at our house the week before, all we got was a check on the outside. Not that I had anything to hide, or we had 60 dogs in our house and were secretly a puppy mill. It was just after explaining to "Rescue Rita" what happened you would think she would apologize and give the dog back, not treat us like we were the ones who broke the dog's leg. In the end, it was worth every single minute of the whole ordeal. We had our sweet little Rascal...all we really wanted.

Full Circle

A few years go by, and Anna receives a call from a friend. She and her husband have been to the house several times since Rascal had become part of our family. Her husband had been giving guitar lessons to someone that he and I had gone to church with years ago. Actually, his dad had been our pastor. Anna's friend asked him if he was interested in a dog since her sister's dog had just had puppies. He asked if they were large outside or small inside dogs. The friend told him that they were larger and best suited for outside. He said that he had wanted a small dog. That a few years ago he had had the best longhaired dachshund. She began questioning about what happened. He said that his large dog had attacked and broke the dachshund's back leg. He still lived at home, and his Dad siad that it would take thousands of dollars to fix his leg. So, he (yes my old pastor) decided to drop the dog off somewhere. Anna's friend questioned him about the time this happened, and come to find out, it was around the same time when Rascal was dropped. Anna and I were both upset that someone would do this to an animal. Of course, since we have come to love Rascal, we are thankful he came to be with us. We had our photos made at our local vet and had thought about sending one to their house saying with a caption, "Wish you were here" or "Thanks for the drop-off" just for a joke. To this day, we still haven't been brave enough to send it...Rascal is almost 7/8 years old. He has been with us for 4 years and is very happy, and so are we. We can't imagine our lifes without him.

Our Happy Little Family

About a year after we were blessed with Rascal, I found my favorite website....www.wieniebabies.com I loved going to see all the baby dachshunds! It made me wonder what Rascal looked like as a baby. It also made me wonder if Rascal was in need of some company...at least that is what I told Anna to convince her that we needed another dachshund. so, I began sending her all the pictures of these dachshunds, and sure enough, she fell love. we had a hard time deciding about whether to get a puppy or a full grown wienie baby. You see, Rascal is so spoiled that we thought a brand new puppy might be a little too much. So, the Carter family took a little field trip to Bowdon to find a new family member. around this time, Miss B became available. It seemed like it was meant to "B" because Rascal just followed Miss B around her house like a young puppy. They played well together, and we knew she was the one for us. so now here we are....Chris, Anna, Rascal and Miss B Carter...happily ever after!