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A Mother's Day Appeal for Bambi,
A Special
Doggie Mom
May 8 is Mother's Day and as we honor these important women in our lives, we also want to take this opportunity to make a Mother's Day appeal for one of the longest-staying dogs in our shelter.
Doe-eyed Bambi came into the PAWS shelter in 2009 with another dog who was a victim of neglect.
There was nothing significant nor dramatic about Bambi's rescue. In fact, the other dog who was rescued with her needed more medical attention - he had to have a surgery to remove the outgrown collar embedded deep within his neck.
Bambi was just your regular thin, undernourished dog who seemed very short-tempered.
She would growl and bare her teeth whenever people came near her.
A few days after her rescue, and much to the shelter staff's surprise, Bambi gave birth to six puppies.
Three of the puppies died. The remaining survivors were the utter picture of cuteness.
Visitors doted on Bailey, Bunny and Bruce who all looked like furry little teddy bears.
When the puppies were old enough to be separated from their mom, they were kept in a different quarantine kennel.
Every time touring visitors would ask how big Bailey, Bunny and Bruce could possibly grow up to be, shelter staff would give the standard answer that we would never know for sure, but - to be helpful - would point out the puppies' mom in another kennel.
At this, people would almost always remark in disbelief, "Really? That's the mom?!"
"Maybe the father was the good-looking one," a shelter visitor once joked.
And so all three of Bambi's puppies were adopted in no time at all.
As for Bambi, it took at least a year for her to become the sweet and extremely well-behaved dog that she is today.
She is a dog who is eager to please and one who will look at you intently with those black "eyeliner-lined" eyes when you try to teach her something new.
Bambi is intelligent and we often have the impression that she can understand what people are saying when they converse just outside Dog Run 1.
We hope she has no inkling that, sadly, no one - not a single one of our adoption applicants - has ever picked her as a First Choice for the dog that they want to adopt.
Would you consider giving a forgotten mom a chance at a good life?
Visit Bambi at the PAWS Animal Shelter. She loves sausage treats and leisurely afternoon walks.
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