Today, I was able to participate in a small miracle. I needed to deposit some girl scout cookie money into the bank, and needed to go see our tax people, and run a few errands before going to get Jb from school at 3:30. I prepared the deposit slip, got my papers in order and left the house around 2:30. On the way to the bank, I realized I had COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN to put the deposit slip and money I needed into my purse. The envelope was still sitting on the counter, which was really strange because I had just filled it out and then to leave it without even a second thought was kind of weird. I thought about turning around to go get it, then realized it was no big deal, I will just take the deposit to the bank tomorrow. I decided to head straight to the tax office instead. On my way, I passed Mt. Logan Middle School. There was a lot of traffic because school was just letting out for the day. I saw lots of cars swerving in front of the school and heard lots of honking, and realized there was a male bulldog running the gauntlet down the center of the road. He was trekking as fast as his little bulldog legs would go, his tongue flapping in the breeze. He looked like he was having a great time, but also that he had NO IDEA what kind of danger he was putting himself into. Knowing that bulldogs are about as street smart as fish, I pulled over to see if I could at least get him out of the road. I got out of my car, and within a few seconds he came over to me and was ready to go belly up for some tummy rubs. He didn't have a collar, so there was no identifying information on him at all. As I was preparing to load him into my car, and get him off the street, a woman and her two children begin to yell at me from their SUV.
"Hey is that your bulldog? He has great colors, I have a female bulldog, I want to breed him."
I replied that he wasn't mine, I was just trying to get him off the street. The lady then asked me if she could take him home because she needed a male bulldog for her breeding program. I was flabbergasted. Seriously? I told her I was pretty sure he would have people looking for him. He looked well cared for and had obviously had some eye surgeries performed. He did not look malnourished, he looked well socialized and well cared for. He WAS super dirty, but I know from experience how much bulldogs love to roll in the dirt, so I tried not to hold that against him. So, I told her I was going to take him to my vet, so they could scan him for a microchip, and get him back to his owners. She asked the name of my vet, and I told her, but she was not familiar with the office. I must admit I thought that was weird, because owning bulldogs you quickly learn there are many vets in town, each with distinct specializations. Often with Rosie, she had multiple vets taking care of her simultaneously. Even though Lily has actually only been to one vet office, I still know most of the vets in town, and thought it was strange that this woman supposedly is a breeder, but she has never heard of the 2nd largest vet in the city. It felt sketchy at best. Anyway, she insisted on following me, because she still wanted to take him home, and was hoping that there would be no owner so she would be able to keep him. So, we all went to the vet's office and what do you know? He had a microchip. When the vet tech looked up the chip number in the Home Away website, we were able to learn that his name was Megatron, but for some reason, the site would not allow her to access the owner information. Realizing there was an owner on file, the breeding lady demanded from the vet tech that she be given the owner's phone number because she still wants to breed this poor dog. The vet tech was kind, and explained that we didn't have the owners number, and even if we did, she couldn't legally give it out, but told the lady to write her number down and she would give it to the owner. So finally the lady left, and the vet tech began calling other veterinary hospitals in the area, looking for someone who would recognize Megatron and contact his parents to come and get him. At this point I had to leave to go get JB from school, and the vet tech told me Megatron could stay at their office for one hour, but if his parents weren't located, he would have to go to animal control. I took a few photos of him and threw them out on Facebook to maybe help stimulate the search for his parents, and I left to go get JB. As we were driving home, about 30 minutes after I dropped him off, the vet tech called me to report she had found his doctor, Megatron's parents were notified, he had already been picked up and was safely on his way home, where his dad was going to immediately repair the faulty gate latch that had blown open in the wind.
It was then I realized IF had I remembered the cookie deposit, or IF I had turned around to go get it, I would have never seen Megatron. I would not have been on that exact street at that exact time. I would have been at the bank, Megatron would have been picked up by the psycho breeding lady, and taken to her home to be her stud dog. His parents would have come home to a broken latch and a missing bulldog. They would have contacted all of the vet offices, and the human society, and put out fliers, and worried about him, and they would have never, ever known what happened to him.
I am so thankful I was able to be where I needed to be today to help Megatron make it back home. Megatron's miracle. Thanks be to God.
p.s. I didn't make it to the tax office either...maybe tomorrow. :-)
