My Heroine

A couple of days ago I had to go to Antigonish for some volunteer business. I was travelling with a woman whose name I cannot mention because I know she values her privacy. I am just going to call her My Heroine.

While speeding along the 104 highway, not far from Pictou, My Heroine, who was driving, noticed a dark shape on the side of the road that I did not see. As we sped past, she said she thought it was a dog and that its head lifted up.

My inclination was to drive on, my imagination running wild with very bad images of a situation that was not pleasant and one that I was not going to be able to do much about. But that was certainly not My Heroine’s inclination. She was determined to return to the animal. At the next exit we turned around and headed back. Sure enough, there was the large dark shape of an animal lying under a guardrail. We crossed over to that side of the highway and pulled up close to it. Now I was reluctant to get out of the car as I was not sure with what it was we were dealing.

I stayed in the car.

But not My Heroine! She jumped out of the car and approached the animal. It was indeed a dog . . . and a fairly big one. As she approached it lifted its head. My Heroine still approached closer and soon was patting its head and had taken hold of its collar. It was at this point that I sheepishly emerged from the car (My Heroine had made things safe for me). We initially thought the dog had been hit by a car. It did not seem capable of standing and it certainly looked in bad shape and was very dirty and wet. The poor creature was cold and shivering. After a few minutes the dog was sitting and we were then quite sure that it had not been hit by a car. It was just totally exhausted.

We called 911 who contacted Pictou animal control. We were told that an officer was on their way. My Heroine asked me to get some doggie biscuits from the car. What kind of an amazing woman is it, who does not own a dog, but carries doggie biscuits in her car? The dog loved them - he was very hungry.

About ten minutes later, a red pick-up truck pulls up and a man steps out. He said he had just heard over his radio that we had a located a dog. It was his dog who had been missing for a day and a half. Apparently the dog had been spooked by the thunder storms two nights earlier and had run off. The man had been looking for him ever since. He was very grateful.

A happy ending for that poor dog. I have no doubt that he would not have survived if My Heroine had not had the compassion and courage to stop and care.