We enjoyed watching her run --she was gentle and very focused. Both my husband and I fell instantly in love with her.

Pet Name: Jude
Breed: Border Collie mix
Age: 5
Sex: Female
Date of Adoption: July 2005

There’s no question in my mind we live among angels. They silently, often invisibly work their missions of kindness and mercy. It’s easy to forget these good souls live among us, until we need one. Sometimes we don’t even know we need one, they just show up and serve us with their good hearts.

I was healing from a broken heart that year. My mother lingered at death’s door for many months. I suppose some people would say I was an angel to travel several times a month between her home in Colorado and mine in New Mexico. I was blessed with a job that allowed me to be my mother’s long distance caregiver for long periods of time and being there with her was just what I had to do and wanted to do. And, at the same time, I also needed to return to my husband and my own home periodically after holding vigil at mom’s bedside for weeks at a time. I needed renewal. My fur angels were always there waiting for me when I finally returned — Stony, my bright Sheltie and Marzi, my ancient tabby cat. Along with other family and friends, I leaned on them to help me get through that difficult time. Stony was always there waiting, eager to please, ready to go for walks or content to sit at my feet as I gazed out the window. Marzi simply sat and purred my weariness away.

That whole year was filled with loss. A month before my mom died, Stony died too, the result of a rapid onset, virulent form of spinal cancer. He was only 7 years old. Mike, our vet, diagnosed Stony in July and Stony was dead weeks later. Mike came out to our house on a brilliant August morning and we cried together as we sat with Stony on the warm patio as he took his last breath. My husband and I then took turns digging Stony’s grave in the garden. We placed Stony’s body in the earth and covered it over with the fresh soil and a hefty quartz-filled boulder. A week later I went back to Colorado and remained with my mother until her death a few weeks later.

A cold winter of grieving followed me. Friends said, get another dog. I said no, it’s way too soon. Grief has its own timing, I couldn’t just go get a new dog to fix my broken heart. For me, it just didn’t work like that.

The following June frail old Marzi seemed ill and I protectively shuffled her off to Mike’s clinic for a checkup. Mike poked and squeezed her saggy abdomen, then peeled off his powdery examining gloves as he peered at me over the top of his glasses.
“She’s old, that’s all. It’s going to be up and down from here on out.”
I was relieved her end wasn’t imminent, but my gut tightened at the thought of losing another loved one. She was the last one standing of a vibrant menagerie I enjoyed for almost two decades. As I stroked her petal soft fur and lifted her gently back into her crate I felt very sad. And then, words came out of nowhere, I wasn’t even sure I’d said them with my own lips,
“Have you seen any nice dogs come through here lately – any that might need a home?” Not two seconds passed before Mike responded, “Funny you should ask, there was a sweet dog in here about an hour ago…mostly Border collie, probably something else wandering around in there too, but very sweet.”
“An hour ago?
“Yes, you just missed Beth Ann and the dog she brought in for a check up, they just got her out of the dog pound.”

My mind raced. “Why do you think the dog was so sweet?” I asked.
“Simple. She was abandoned, nearly starved, spent months in the dog pound without going crazy. After all she’s been through she’s still very sweet and even-tempered. Most animals turn mean or go nuts after going through something like that. It tells me she is incredibly well grounded –I wish I had space in my life to adopt her myself.” Mike paused, then woefully shook his head, “Can you imagine what it would be like to listen to constantly barking dogs in a concrete echo chamber for three months?”

I knew for certain that would send me around the bend but I’d never thought much about abandoned dogs locked up in nut houses. “Why do you suppose she was spared for that length of time? I’ve heard those places are so crowded they don’t keep dogs that long if no one claims them really fast?” I asked Mike.
He responded thoughtfully, “I don’t know about her – maybe she was special, there were clearly angels looking out for her, Beth Ann was one of them…without a doubt rescue people like her are angels. I see them in here every week and I know the good work they do to get dogs out of the pound and adopted out to good homes.”
“I don’t know much about these networks, I’ve always stayed away from dog pounds because they break my heart, and I just can’t stand to go in there…” I sputtered, taking in the sad story, “How can someone just abandon their pet? The dog’s heart must be broken…”
We looked at each other with knowing eyes and I turned to go. Then I heard my heart mouth the words to him,
“What did you say her name is, Beth Ann? How can I find her and this dog?”
Mike reached into his shirt pocket and scratched out a name and number onto a prescription pad. He handed it to me and said, “Yes, Beth Ann. She’s wonderful. Call her.”

I did not pause long before I called the number Mike gave me once Marzi and I returned home. Beth Ann answered the phone on the first ring and I drank in the dramatic story of the dog rescue narrated in her robust Southern drawl…. The dog was abandoned by renters, sent to the city pound for months, an unprecedented number of stays of execution because the pound people (more angels at work) couldn’t euthanize the dog because she was so sweet, the rescue people from Bro & Tracy paid her bail and freed her from the pound, fed her and cleaned her up, she’d been in the rescue network for weeks, loves toys, she’s skinny but healthy, needs a home.

I said we’d be there that afternoon.

I felt anxious, but I wanted to hear more of the story. I was eager to meet the sweet dog Mike thought so much of. I listened as Beth Ann explained the situation and describe the dog. I had friends who would only adopt human society friends, but it’s not something I’d done before. I’d always found our family pets through breeders, so the idea of adopting a rescue dog was new for me but I was open. Beth Ann was calm, very knowledgeable and reassuring. I called my husband at work and invited him to come home early to go with me.

Later that day we met Beth Ann and the dog that temporarily bore the moniker “June” for the month she’d been sprung from dog jail. June circled the car with the other dogs as we drove into Beth Ann’s dusty driveway for that initial meeting. June was aloof to us but didn’t bark. She was mostly interested in toys and Beth Ann explained why that was a healthy sign of the dog’s mental health. We threw the ball to June, watched her run and pestered Beth Ann with a thousand questions. Beth Ann had been fostering June along with several other fur friends. She knew a lot about June and Beth Ann treated her like part of the pack. June had even been welcomed into Beth Ann’s bed, was I impressed with Beth Ann’s fostering! June did not cozy up to us, but kept her focus on toys. Eventually we learned that her behavior was typical of Borders. We enjoyed watching her run –she was gentle and very focused. Both my husband and I fell instantly in love with her.

That afternoon we not only met the new dog of our life, but we also got an education about dog rescue work. Beth Ann was part of a band of behind the scenes angels that give second chances to dogs to live out their lives in dignity. She and her counterparts come from all walks of life and different socio-economic backgrounds. They share one thing: a passionate commitment to do whatever they can to provide abandoned, sick, elderly or abused dogs quality life and adoption into loving families. Through their networks they collaborate with city and county pounds and various community agencies to advocate for and intervene if they can on behalf of dogs. They assess strange dogs for their temperaments and pinpoint problems, feed them, pick off their fleas and tics, love them, take them to the vet for checkups and then try to find a loving home for each of them, all with private donations, often with their own money. These angels do whatever is necessary to rescue dogs regardless of circumstances or whereabouts. They log miles on their own cars and stock their pantries and garages with supplies and food and dog gear. Their passion often means they are on-call for life.

After our introduction to June we agreed to wait but we were ready to bring her home that afternoon. By mutual agreement, three days later Beth Ann brought June who we re-named Jude to our house, coached us on how to make it a successful transition, left us with some toys for her and waved goodbye. Beth Ann promised she’d be available if anything went haywire, but that was never necessary. It was a seamless adoption and the happy tale wags on almost four years later. Marzi peacefully died that next November and Jude became our only fur child, fodder for a whole other story.

Beth Ann and I both moved away from New Mexico that year and although we never saw one another again and most likely never will, she touched my life profoundly by rescuing and fostering Jude. I know Beth Ann is still doing her work with thousands of other rescue angels, matching broken-hearted creatures with broken-hearted people. Thanks to Beth Ann, my heart healed and Jude’s did too.

–Bernadette Prinster