March 2000:
I went online looking for a Westie to rescue. I had just purchased my computer and was new to the Internet. After I found the message board for different breeds, someone told me about petfinder.com. Then, I scrolled through that site and found some information about Katie and her brothers. Hanna, a medical technician at Hound Haven in Ovid, Michigan, had posted information about a number of Westies who had been turned over to the Clinic after being kept in poor living conditions for many years, and she was seeking adoptive homes for these dogs. The Westies all had little or no veterinary care during their lifetimes. My husband and I talked it over and then I called her. We made arrangements to drive from our home in Belleville, Illinois, a distance of about 550 miles, to bring her home. One weekend we made the trip with our whole family. This included me, my husband, our three-year-old daughter, and our other Westie, Emily. We were all stuffed into our little Mitsubishi Eclipse.
When we arrived, we saw Katie in a small cage. Her brothers were in adjacent cages. According to Hannah, Katie and her brothers had contracted mange. One or two had heartworm. They were all older dogs, about eight and a half years old. Obviously, it would be hard to find homes for them. In addition, they were not housebroken. When I first saw Katie with her black nose and big brown eyes, I knew we would be taking her back with us. Those big brown eyes looked at me with longing. It saddened me that we would not be able to take her brothers as well.
Although a bit tough in the beginning, Katie has adjusted to her new family quite well, and we have made tremendous progress with her housetraining. As you can imagine, Katie’s vet bills, combined with our travel costs to get her, were considerable. We are glad to have found WESTIEMED and are grateful for the financial assistance which this organization provided.
If Katie could speak, she would certainly thank you too!
Sindy Belleville, Illinois