Annie's story

ANNIE NOWIn January of 2006 I received a call from my good friend, Karen Good, looking for some transport help to move some dogs off of the Reservation. She had, once again, managed to find rescue for some 70+ dogs and I was one of many transporters/rescuers that she had contacted to help get them started on their new perfect lives.

There was one dog however, that she had not had any luck in finding placement for. All Karen could tell me about her was that she had been shot and she wasn’t exactly sure how bad it was, but she knew that she was in dire need of veterinary care. I told her I would be happy to take this dog in as my own and on February 20, 2006 Mom and I were on our way once again to the Reservation where my Mom was born.

ANNIE SETTLING INWe brought supplies to Karen’s land and then we went in search of “Annie”. We followed Karen through the winding roads of the Rez and after about a 20 minute drive we turned into a driveway of a little non-descript house. We got out of our vehicles and walked to the back of the house where Karen thought Annie might be hiding in a small shed. There was another large black dog that was tied to a broken down wooden structure (it looked too pathetic to even call it a dog house). The other “house” that looked identical to it and was right next to it is where we got our first look at Annie.

She was all black with wild, scared eyes. She BOLTED out of that little bad house and ran into the woods. We tried for about 10 minutes to coax her into coming toward us, but she would have none of it! We thought we might be out of luck, but then the people who lived in the house showed up and Annie came right up to the woman. She knelt down and picked up Annie, put her in my van and patted the side of the van and said “she’ll be okay” and that is, and will always be, Annie’s last time to see that house.

ANNIE RECOVERINGWe were unaware of the extent of Annie’s injuries until I got her home and could take a closer look at her. She was SO scared of all of us. I had to carry her up and down the stairs at my house as her back leg was shot up badly and she was so very thin. Within a day, we had her at the vet who referred us to a specialist. The X-Ray showed us that Annie had been shot multiple times – in the left elbow (I pulled out shrapnel that was in her elbow and that enabled it to heal up nicely) and her left rear leg was shattered.

ANNIE'S INJURYAt first they wanted to take the leg, but after observing how well she used that leg, they decided it was best to just watch and wait. Oh, if you could see her RUN now! She is fast and can turn using that little limp leg. She’s truly amazing.

ANNIE & THE CATAnnie now resides at my Mom’s house and is the most spoiled Rez girl in the history of Rez girls! Mom cooks for her every single day and she LOVES being in the house and WARM!! She is GORGEOUS and GRATEFUL. We can’t thank Karen enough for all she did for Annie and all she continues to do for SO MANY of the animals on The Red Lake Indian Reservation.

Kristin

ANNIE & FRIEND