Dusty

When I was really young and lived in California, we had several pets that I don't remember. Then when we moved to Indiana we got a big black lab named Elvis. However, we didn't have him that long because he always jumped the fence and chased people. That led us to give him away to a lady that had a large farm. Then we got Dusty!

I say that we "got" Dusty, but the truth is that our mother stole him from the neighbors. These neighbors had several pets that stayed outside and were neglected horribly. After we stole Dusty, they left their pets tied up and moved away. They came once a week with food and water until our other neighbors called animal control. They didn't even know that Dusty was gone for a few weeks. Mom then basically guilted them into letting us keep little Dusty Dog!

Dusty had a loving yet hard life. A punk kid down the street thought that it would be fun to play with a gun and shot Dusty in the back leg. A girl down the street found Dusty and brought him home to us covered in blood. Dad took one look at us three crying girls and took Dusty to the emergency vet. There he got a plate put in his leg so that he could walk.

After we moved in 2002, Dusty developed a really bad sinus problem. He was always sneezing and dripping snotty stuff. Then finally his poor leg started getting the best of him, not to mention that he was losing his sight and just seemed plain sad. We put him to sleep a few years ago so that he could be happy in puppy heaven.

Dusty was the best dog ever!! Zoe dreams about growing up to be just like him!