Back in February, 2021, during the Great Texas Freeze, a wonderful, caring lady posted on FaceBook requesting help for a dog that was hanging around her office. The picture she posted wasn’t great as it was taken from a distance, but the dog looked like a Ridgeback.
RRUS had an emergency board meeting to discuss whether to take this dog into rescue and it was voted that we would. That was the easy part!
We knew that we couldn’t just trap this dog; it was Friday, two days away from the predicted extreme freeze, and trapping takes time to build up trust. Our RRUS volunteer contacted an Animal Control agent who is trained and authorized to dart animals. He said that he would connect with her the next day when he was finished with his other calls. Meanwhile, it is getting colder, and colder, and the rain has started in earnest.
The agent calls the volunteer late that Saturday afternoon and says that it will have to be Sunday before he can try to dart the dog. Now we are worrying about hypothermia and if the dog will even be there or not. Sunday comes none too soon. The first RRUS volunteer is unable to go and meet the agent but luckily another of our wonderful volunteers steps up and says that he will go even though the weather was getting worse by the minute. Thankfully, the dog was there! As soon as the agent arrived, he darted her and then they had to wait for the drugs to take effect; she was really fighting it, but finally they got her into a crate and rushed her to the Emergency Vet to reverse the drugs and check her over. Thank goodness we did as she was pre-bloat!
This dog was not happy with everything that was happening to her, and she made it known to the vets and techs taking care of her! Luckily, they were able to get her stabilized and remove the gas so that she escaped surgery. She was ready to go to her foster home a few days later and the volunteers named her Stormy. She was initially scared to death of the house, the other dogs, people, but she ended up being one of the sweetest girls, especially for a stray.
Fast forward in time a bit, and Stormy is ready for adoption. RRUS started posting her on our website to try to find her that special home. A very special lady saw her and fell in love with her. She didn’t care that Stormy is a mix, or that she is small and doesn’t have a ridge. She wanted her! When Stormy met her adopter, it was honestly love at first sight. They bonded immediately! Now Stormy is living the life and traveling the country with her new mom!