Goldie

Some miracles happen right on time. Others take a little longer. For 13 little pups born at Christmas two years ago and then put in a box and thrown into a dumpster, there were three miracles one after the other. First, a store clerk heard them whimpering in the dumpster and went to investigate. She called in Community Animal Rescue and Adoptions (CARA) in Jackson, Mississippi, which wasn’t sure the puppies were old enough to survive. Next, they discovered an address in the box and tracked down the man who’d thrown them away. They persuaded him to give up the mother, who was reunited with the pups and carried on weaning them. The third miracle was that within months all 13 puppies had started new lives in new homes as far away as Pennsylvania.

But for Goldie, their mom, things didn’t go as well. CARA volunteer and board member Laura Lillard recalls: “Goldie was so happy when we put her back with her puppies. She was a great mother, very protective, and she had a lovely, happy-go-lucky nature while she was weaning them all. There really was something extra special about watching her take care of these puppies.

She continues, “But when they were all adopted, she became really depressed. She stopped wanting to go out and exercise. She didn’t want to eat. She just seemed confused. Everyone here loved Goldie, and staff would come in on their own time to work with her.”

Finally things started to look up.