How often we hear someone use the expression "This made my day!" A great
feeling accompanies this statement. And what exactly can make your day? Was it
a great compliment? a delicious meal? a refreshing walk in the park? a story of
inspiration? All of them have probably made us feel good at one time or another.
Today a story of inspiration made my day. It's one I'd like to share with you.
On Care2- Laura S. related a story from one of the heroes of The Great Animal
Rescue Chase to save ONE MILLION animals. What a great idea and what a
great challenge as well. I hope we all jump aboard. As the site notes-they welcome
stories about your first or your hundredth rescue. You probably have rescued some
animal in your lifetime, and I am happy to report that I have as well. But none of
my rescues were quite as spectacular and challenging as was Ed Kostro's of Illinois.
He wrote about it with the title "Rescuers Surround Freezing Truck Yard Dog."
Ed had many times saved animals in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Now he
was asked to help coax out a terrified homeless dog hiding in a truck yard in the
throes of a harsh Illinois winter.
A kind compassionate young lady had first spotted this homeless dog on the dark
icy road she was on. She stopped her car and tried to coax him into it, but this poor
dog obviously trusted no human beings and soon ran away into the cold night.
And even though the truck yard staff noticed him and tried to leave food and water
for him, it obviously was not enough because he was still emaciated and probably
terribly very cold, but he still avoided anyone who tried to get too close to him.
Despite his impoverished condition, he managed to elude Ed and several others who
were made aware of this poor dog's condition and hoped to catch him on a very
cold January morning. After spotting him, they had spread out and followed him
all around the truck yard in hopes of corralling him and bringing him to a place
of warmth and safety. But his distrust and fear were too great, and he managed
to elude them every time. They sadly had to call it a day after several hours of
futility. This poor little frightened dog was sly as a fox.
Ed thought of this poor canine spending another freezing night in the open and in
the morning decided to take his large dog trap with him- fortifying it with hot dogs
and dog food. As it had snowed, this poor dog was no where to be seen. Obviously,
he had hunkered down in some sort of shelter he had made for himself.
Because of the new snow, Ed was delighted to find his paw prints and followed
them to a lair - a deep hole in the frigid ground that he had scratched out under a
parked semi-trailer. There he was! Ed decided to crawl in after him but the dog
immediately scurried out from under the trailer to the opposite side. Luckily, he moved
in the direction of the tantalizing aroma of the hot dogs and within minutes, Ed heard
the trap door snap shut.
This homeless waif would now spend the next week in a warm bed that Ed had made
up for him in his garage. He would hungrily gobble down the food that Ed brought
for him every day but would not let Ed get close to him. When Ed tried to get near
him, he would scurry away -still in absolute terror - even of this man who had rescued
him and brought him to a warm place and food. As I read this, I could only wonder
about the monster(s) who had hurt him so deeply. I only hope that they never have
another animal to traumatize again.
But after 7 days, he finally decided that Ed wasn't going to hurt him and on the
eighth morning as he placed his food next to his bed, he very timidly licked Ed's
hand. And as Ed noted, "His nightmare and his distrust had now finally ended."
"Trucker" now joined the rest of Ed's rescues and the first order of business was a
visit to the vet. The vet said that he was still very emaciated and was an older dog.
He found several bruises on Trucker's front legs and several infected teeth. It seems
that he had been hit by a car as well.
The vet said he had to stay so that he could pull some of those bad teeth. When Ed
came back to pick him up, Trucker's scrawny tail began to wag at the sight of him
and Ed was soon covered with happy doggy kisses.
When home, his other rescued mutts accepted Trucker unconditionally. As former
orphans themselves, they quickly recognized another. Trucker, who had evaded Ed
and his would-be rescuers for so long, now follows Ed around - everywhere - even
into the bathroom. And each day for Ed is special because of Trucker's happy canine
kisses. Great rescue Ed. Thanx so much.
I always enjoy reading the comments following posts such as this one which often
bring other worthwhile thoughts to consider. I believe Nelson P's comment deserves
copying:
"How heartening that there are souls like Ed Kostro who had a large heart to take
in a stray dog. I wish there were more such human beings on this planet. Instead,
most people "shoo" away animals and dogs in particular. Many of them hate cats
and a lot of them don't care for animals even if they are being maimed and tortured.
By the way, a thought just occurred to me-how many pastors in churches and TV
evangelists preach of kindness to animals in their sermons? In this so-called Christian
America, animal abuse is on the rise but these pastors do not, not even once in the 52
Sundays of a year, preach about animal kindness. Someone should take a poll among
these so called pastors and evangelists on this subject."
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