MY LIFE AS A RESCUE DOG
By Lilly Roxane, As Told To Her Human
Call me Lilly Roxane.
I am a red and white Border Collie dog. I was born deaf and blind. I can see shadows and shapes with my right eye and my nose works just fine.
When I turned three years old I wound up on the streets. With just my collar and my tag with my address and phone number scratched away I landed somewhere so far away I couldn’t pick up the scent trail to find my way home. I walked in circles for a whole day to understand where I was, but everything was strange and new and confusing. Then a human made friends with me and picked me up! I thought I was getting a car ride home, but the human couldn’t figure out where I lived. She took me to the animal shelter. I was officially an “abandoned stray.”
I was scared by myself in the stray kennels. I was fed, given toys, and had a safe place to sleep. One day a human took me out for a car ride. She had other dogs with her. We traveled to San Francisco. We stopped at all kinds of places where humans look for dogs to adopt. That’s where I met my new humans, Pam and Bill.
Bill was a field officer for the Palo Alto Police Department Animal Control Division. Pam was a veterinary nurse. Bill took me out every day for rides in his animal control truck. I got to wear my very own police badge. Together we helped other lost pets find their way home. One day on foot patrol I got to herd stray cattle back to their pasture! On a special day President Obama came to visit Palo Alto. We helped keep the streets open for the President’s motorcade. He drove right past us! On my work days-off Pam took me to a school for dogs where I learned to find hidden scents. I was a fast learner and finished school at the top of my class.
Bill and I retired from field work this year. Sometimes we walk our old patrol route, just not in uniform, and not with that puppy energy we once enjoyed for one-thousand days together.
My life as a rescue dog.
Sometimes I wonder who rescued who.
