http://www.ajc.com/lifestyle/man-rescues-dog-from-186139.html
from the article:
"Man rescues dog from traffic; gets more than he bargained for
By Katie Leslie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3:25 p.m. Wednesday, November 4, 2009
When Gary DeNicola rescued a stray animal in late September, he planned to drop her off at a shelter the next day. But then one dog became 10, and DeNicola became an animal shelter himself.
The commercial real estate executive didn't hesitate when he saw the small reddish dog dodging traffic at a busy intersection. On his way to Sunday brunch, he had taken a detour through Bolton Road when he spotted her, so he pulled over and coaxed the animal to safety. She was starving and emaciated, and appeared to have been nursing. He searched the area for puppies and found none, so he placed the petite mutt into his car and turned toward home.
At the time, DeNicola had one dog, but by no means was an animal activist. He wasn't affiliated with any rescue groups, but knew he couldn't leave the dog in the city streets. He had a plan: keep her that night and drop her off at an animal shelter Monday morning. Ruby, as she soon would be called, had something else in mind.
Not wanting to bring the animal with an unknown background around Tiger, his 12-year-old Cairn terrier mix, DeNicola let the pup eat, drink and rest in his spacious backyard in Virginia-Highland.
"At that point, I actually felt a kick and put two and two together and realized she was pregnant," he explained.
Still, DeNicola planned to take her to a shelter. He didn't dream his backyard would become a birthing center. That evening, on Sept. 27, DeNicola noticed the dog begin to hunker down in a garden bed. Next, she was giving birth to one, two, four, seven, and then nine black and tan puppies.
DeNicola began making calls to shelters and soon discovered many area animal rescue groups are at full capacity. People struggling financially had abandoned their animals, and many pets were turned out during the flood, he was told.
"And one shelter wouldn't take the newborn pups until they were vaccinated," he said. "I realized -- they are mine."
(article continues...)
And bless all those other unknown heroes out there, too, who continually try to rescue abused, abandoned dogs out there, too, with their own limited resources to do so! There's gotta be a special place in "heaven" for such people, in my book! ;))
Blessings,
Gypsy
)O(
"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across the grass
and loses itself in the sunset.
- Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator
Mika Dog
"All things share the same breath;
the beast, the tree, the man.
The Air shares its spirit with
all the life it supports."
--Chief Seattle
"If there are no dogs in Heaven,
then when I die I want to go where they went."
~Will Rogers
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress
can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
~~Mahatma Gandhi
