Our Noble Girl

Three weeks ago, as I drive up to work I see someone unloading a very large dog kennel in front of our gate and drive off.  “Gosh darn (censored),” I thought, “what are we going to do with this guy?” (To explain my seeming insensitivity:  because we are a no-kill shelter, we are ALWAYS full and did not have an available kennel for a stray dog.) Upon arriving inside, I discover that someone had talked to the gentlemen and he’d picked up a German Shepherd who’d been hit by a car just minutes before. 

The poor girl was stunned and bleeding profusely.  Her leg was badly mangled and hung limply in a very unnatural position.  We posted her unfortunate circumstances and her whereabouts in as many facets as we could and waited anxiously for her owner to appear.  We waited.  And waited.  No one came.

Our surgery tech Ginger named her Noble Etta Blithe.  Why she named her this I cannot say.  It sounds like a celebrity name to me, and may very well be one…..you may be laughing now b/c I don’t know who Noble Etta Blithe is.  But I digress…..

Noble, as you’ve probably guessed, had to have that maimed leg amputated.  She struggled with this loss at first, and I would look out of my office window in the afternoon and see the surgery techs (she was kept in a kennel in our surgery area) walking her slowly in the yard while Noble limped slowly alongside them.  She made slow progress, but for the first 2 weeks kept her head low and seemed to curse her fate as she stumbled awkwardly in her melancholic stupor. 

And then about a week ago, I again looked out of my office window and was inspired to see that Noble was indeed living up to her new name.  Her gait was swift and sure, her head held high, and the only thing she was struggling with on that particular day was getting off of that hindering leash.

She’s doing great and is actually up for adoption now.  Noble Etta Blithe.  Yeah, that’s a great name.  For a great dog.  A noble dog.