October 2009
Three months ago we saw a post on Craigslist about a Samoyed. The ad said the person had a 6 month old Sammie puppy and was going to be out of the country for a month and a half and wanted someone to dog sit his puppy for him. He was offering $350. Melissa emailed and offered to take his puppy for the time specified, letting him know he could write off the amount as a tax deduction. She described her house, which is pretty much heaven for a dog. We expected he would jump at the chance, but there was nothing in response.
After a couple weeks went by, Ron got a phone call from a woman that lives in a small town on the Oregon coast. She had a 6 month old Samoyed puppy that she just bought from a fellow off Craigslist for $500 and upon getting her home it appeared her daughter was allergic. Guess what? Same puppy. The woman said when she called about the original ad he was he was planning to sell the dog all along. So now she wanted to turn the puppy over to rescue, but she wanted us to pay her back. We told her we don’t buy dogs, but offered to refer people to her who would be expecting to pay the usual adoption fee of $150. We never heard from her again.
Fast forward another few weeks, when we got a call from people who had adopted from us before and also belong to WVSF. They live on the Oregon coast close to where the woman with the Samoyed was located. They had received a call from their vet asking them if they were interested in adopting a 7 month old Sammie puppy as they had heard of one that was looking for a home. They said they were not but they were pretty sure that rescue would be willing to take her.
So they called Ron and after talking to them he asked if the dog’s name was Lucy. Surprise, surprise, it was (we knew her name from the woman who got her earlier). Apparently the woman who had purchased her off Craigslist did not have any luck finding her a home. She took Lucy to give her a bath and was telling the lady at the dog bath place that she needed to find her a home and was going to have to take her to shelter if she didn’t. Here’s where the story gets complex.
The woman who owned the dog spa knew that one of the women who worked across the street at the beauty parlor also volunteered at the local shelter. The volunteer didn’t want her to take Lucy to the shelter because it was full and they were going to euthanize the dogs. So the volunteer took Lucy home herself and tried to find her a home, unsuccessfully. Then she spoke to her vet about Lucy because her husband would not let her keep another dog, and the vet remembered the nice couple who called us had 2 Samoyeds and maybe they would want another. That’s how we got involved for the third time with Lucy.
After everybody talking to everybody Melissa got down to business and set up transport. The couple went to the volunteer’s house and picked Lucy up. She spent the night with them, their two Sams and their cats. The next morning they were headed out on the start of a trip to San Francisco. They went through Salem, where Melissa met them and took Lucy home to foster.
Lucy is a typical young Samoyed, full of energy and testing her limits. She is 9 months old and the product of a backyard breeder we know well. With some training she will be a spectacular dog and wonderful family member. We have been trying to work through a list of applicants, doing home visits and looking for the perfect home for her.
We had two calls the same day from people who found stray Samoyeds. The first was north of Seattle, and we explained that they have to take a dog to a shelter first so the owner has a chance to find it. We promised to keep in touch with the shelter and adopt the dog the first day it was available. Unfortunately they don’t like shelters and declined to go there. That means somewhere there is probably a family looking for their dog who won’t find it because the finder wouldn’t follow through. Much as we would like to take a dog immediately, we have to be able to prove ownership and we can only do that through a shelter or direct surrender by an owner.
The second call was from a Centralia vet who had someone in the office who brought a dog to be scanned. They put her on the phone and we explained the process and she understood instantly. She took him to the Lewis County shelter, where Kathy met her. They coordinated with the shelter, who told us to call 72 hours later when he would be available. He went from the shelter directly to a vet for neutering, and we have him here as a foster. Since he came from Lewis County, his name is now Lewis.
Early in 2008 we heard about a woman in Centralia who was living in an apartment and selling Sammy puppies. She had two litters at once with 9 males and 2 females for sale. From what we understood at the time, animal control became involved and all the puppies were placed before we could do anything. We believe it’s likely that Lewis was one of the nine males, which puts him just over a year and a half old. He has all the energy of a young dog and fortunately also has some training. He is well behaved except for some barking, and is the most overtly affectionate dog of any foster in ages. He is comfortable with whatever life brings his way and quite well adjusted. Somebody is going to be lucky to add Lewis to their family.