South Carolina: Five years ago this dog was in a shelter. Kathryn Larkin selected her for adoption, saving her life. Ms. Larkin named her Maggie. This month, Ms. Larkin was returning from a walk with Maggie when she fainted in her carport. The 83 year old woman hit her head and was out of sight of any neighbors. Maggie ran to the street:
Aiken Public Safety Animal Control Officer Jeff Wilson got a call that a leashed dog was loose in the area. He got a glimpse of Maggie a block away from her home, and when he spotted her, she darted toward the back of the complex and led him to the townhouse.
“When I pulled up in the driveway, I saw the dog in the driveway,” Jeff said. “When I approached the dog and came to this point is when I saw the victim laying by the tire.”
Kathyrn’s not sure how long she was on the ground, but she was already feeling sick and cold. “My legs collapsed on me, and I went down and smashed my face. Next thing I knew a man was coming up the driveway, and he said, ‘The dog just saved your life’.”
What a wonderful chain of events and people, including the good Samaritan who called AC to report a loose dog with a leash attached and the ACO who responded promptly. Some shelter directors might look at Maggie as a plain-brown-wrapper dog, unlikely to be selected for adoption and thus denied a spot on the adoption floor. In many shelters, she could easily end up on the kill list if unadopted after a few days. I’m glad we never had to find out how this world might have been different without Maggie and Ms. Larkin.
Great story – love hearing about people who do their job well (Kudos to Jeff Wilson) and dogs who help their people in time of need – good job, Maggie. I’ll hope that the neighbor who called had a good reason not to go out and investigate Maggie’s running loose. Glad that Maggie’s mama is doing better and that Maggie didn’t get taken to the pound.
Yes, I’m so glad ACO Wilson didn’t just capture Maggie and take her in, rather than following her lead. Shows some common sense and a desire to get the dog home rather than into the shelter. Bravo.
Yea! The system (though broken in many ways in many places) can work!!! I’ve got lots of rescue dogs and they save my life every day. But it is certainly not this dramatic…thanks for sharing.
With all the bad news coming from this part of the country, this is wonderful news.