Rescue Reflections - Today while waiting for my nieces and nephew outside the school and holding Diesel, my 7 week old Vizsla puppy, I noticed how perfect he is. He is happy, healthy and full of the true spirit of the breed. This made me think of all the rescues that have passed through my house these past years, the ones that we, as a group, have saved and the ones we lost. I thought of the many excuses given to me as to why a person could no longer keep the once perfect puppy that they held in much the same way I was holding Diesel. I thought about the difference between the “breeders” of those dogs and Diesel’s breeder. Diesel is co-owned so his breeder is there for him for life. The rescue’s owners might not even be able to find their dog’s breeder.

Diesel’s litter was planned for conformation, type and temperament; the rescue pup’s breeding was planned solely for the almighty dollar. Diesel has an impressive pedigree, the rescues most often have nothing, if anything, only the names of the sire and dam. The rescue is disposable, no one cares what happens to them, they are dumped at the side of the road, shelters, or at my front door with excuses. Some are dumped at Rita’s door by way of e-mail, but none are turned away, not even if medical costs will be high to save their lives. Believe me there have been way to many, because even one Vizsla in need is too many.

This brings me to Faith who was the pick of her litter according to her “breeder”. She was perfect, born to a back yard breeder who did not bother to check whether the prospective buyer was knowledgeable about the breed or if it was the right home for the pup. He just put an ad in the local newspaper and first come first served.

Faith was handed over to the first person with the right amount of cash in his pocket. She went home with this unknown person, this perfect “pick of the litter” puppy was sent home with a “less than perfect” stranger. This young man was this pup’s worst nightmare; he beat her almost daily. If she didn’t behave the way he wanted, then a slap or a kick was sure to follow. She lived for 2 months in this hell, until the young man finally went too far, he broke the femur of her left hind leg, she was only 14 weeks old. The young man’s mother took Faith to some nice people who made an S.O.S. call to CWVRG, Inc. Faith was taken to the closest volunteer and had surgery to pin her leg the very next day! Faith was found to be terrified of men (I can’t imagine why), but worse yet she began to lose the feeling in her left foot and leg. After the pin was removed it became worse. Calcification of the bone in the area of the fracture was now causing pinching of the nerves and blood vessels in the leg, there was no other way to save her life, the leg had to be removed. She accepted this with true Vizsla spirit. The day after she came home from surgery, she ran full speed up the stairs to my bedroom!

Now it was time to start looking for the perfect home for a, still in my opinion, perfect now 6 month old puppy. The perfect family came to us, Teila and Scott. They were well known to us, and had helped CWVRG, Inc. for several years. Teila contacted us to let us know that their V, Falco, had just recently crossed over the rainbow bridge, and they were interested in adopting a rescue. Faith was my first thought, she was not listed on our website which is common when we have a dog that needs a special home, plus she was not yet released by the vet to go to a forever home.

Scott and Teila met Faith and it was love at first sight. Faith wasn’t to be released until the 6th of October, but she had made unexpected progress and was released on September 28th, 2007. Scott and Teila changed their plans around to come and get her on the 29th. The young man who abused Faith has a warrant for his arrest for felony animal abuse, it will follow him for the rest of his life, but Faith has left that life behind her. Because she had the courage to put her FAITH in people who do nothing but rescue Vizslas, to be their voice, to be there for them for the rest of their lives; who don’t let perfect 3 legged puppies go to a person that answered an ad in a newspaper, with the correct amount of money in their pocket, but instead believe that all Vizslas should be placed the same way as Diesel------ with love of the breed, and truly care. - Polly