By Carol Bryant, FIDO Friendly magazine
I encountered a starfish in my office today.
Kathy Campbell of Sierra Madre, California, is making a difference every day in the lives of dogs in need. She is a starfish.
Does she run a shelter? No.
Is she involved in formal rescue? No.
But she makes a difference in the lives of dogs every single day. One dog at a time.
Kathy entered the very popular and very fun FIDO Friendly Show Us Your Dog’s Tongue contest. She thanked me for my time, adding her dog Sierra to the contest lineup of cutie pies, and shared the hoarding rescue story of little Sierra. Sierra was one of about 150 dogs and most likely the youngest.
I was so touched, I inquired a bit more about Sierra. “I’m not with any rescue,” Kathy shared. “The pound closest to our house in Sierra Madre is Baldwin Park. They now can only keep dogs 72 hours (unless owner turned in-that is only 24 hours). It is so sad I can’t even go there for fear of bringing home more dogs. “
“More dogs?” I queried. Indeed. Interested, I asked Kathy to share some more.
This starfish showed her sparkle.
“We started a couple of years ago because we had a very old cat and wanted a small dog that would not frighten her. That is how we came upon Tiny and Sedona. If we could have more dogs we would. We have gotten a couple of other dogs and with luck were able to find homes for them. The most important one was a dog named Buddy.
A friend at work is a single lady, never married, around 60 years old. Her life revolved around taking care of her aging parents and handicapped brother. We begged her to keep Buddy over the weekend to see how it went. That dog is now the most important thing in her life. She even quit her vanpool so she can get home earlier in the day to spend more time with him. It has changed her and her life so much it is unbelievable.”
Kathy found Buddy for her friend through Petfinder.com.
The Rescue Begins
“I had never planned to get a dog since our cat, Cuffie, was 16 years old and used to being the only “child.”
When I saw Sedona (on Petfinder.com) and read about how she was abused, my husband and I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately the rescue never got back to me so I found Tiny. The day we got Tiny I got a call from the original rescue saying we could have Sedona.
We brought both of them home. Cuffie ended up sort of liking Sedona. Cuffie ended up passing away that year. It was extremely hard on both my husband and I because we had her since she was a kitten. I don’t know how either of us would have done without Tiny and Sedona.”
And Along Came Molly
“I was looking at Petfinder and found Molly.”
Kathy found Molly, read her story about how she was thrown from a car on the freeway and the person in the car that saw this happen also ran her over.
“I couldn’t believe she survived. She was only nine pounds and being run over by a car probably going 65 mph it was a miracle. I begged and my husband couldn’t refuse. She is now basically his dog. She follows him around everywhere. A year went by and we went to the rescue where we had gotten Molly and they showed us Sierra. Sierra was only about two months and they asked if we could foster her. She was so sad and afraid that once I picked her up I knew I was never going to let go. My husband’s family never had dogs and I think they now believe we are crazy. Maybe it’s true but every one of them is a true blessing.
I can’t wait until I can retire and stay home with them and who knows maybe open my own rescue.”
Here at FIDO Friendly, we read a lot of stories and hear from many people who want to help, desire to rescue, maybe even foster and don’t know where to start. They feel like one person can’t possibly make a difference. I now have a starfish to share with them that one person even to one dog make a difference.
Oh, why the starfish?
While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.
He came closer still and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
The old man smiled, and said, “I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”
To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”
Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”
The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, “It made a difference for that one.”
~Author unknown~
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