It was a typical morning for me, online searching for jobs and...maybe on Facebook.. (damn Facebook!). I am following so many dog rescue pages that my entire news feed is clogged with sad little faces and horror stories. Because my house is full right now and I have no money to donate, I pretty much speed on through most of them because I'm basically useless at the moment. I happened to slow down for a minute, though, and saw that a rescue was seeking a transport in my area.... in the next hour! Well, how convenient... I have nothing to do!
A young shepherd mix named Sylvie, who was rescued from one of the worst kill shelters in California- and possibly the country-, Devore, was in need of transport from her foster home in Oceanside to a boarding facility in Bonita. She would be staying there for the week, awaiting her flight to Chicago later in the month to go to her forever home! I immediately offered to help, but only if the rescue could cover my gas money. Luckily, they were more than happy to do so. So I got in the car and started the trip! I punched the address of her foster into my iPhone, and headed north to Oceanside. Well, wouldn't I be surprised when the directions landed me at the main gate to Camp Pendleton. Great, I thought... how the hell am I supposed to pull this off? I have no business being on a freakin' military base! My heart was pounding as I thought how on earth I was going to explain my story to the guard at the entrance, or how it would even be believable when I did. I must have looked guilty because I was so nervous. I was so glad this very handsome young man was extremely nice and let me through without giving me a heart attack or asking for some kind of paperwork that I didn't have! I finally arrived at Sylvie's foster home, and she hopped right in the front seat, where she would sit as my co-pilot for the ride to Bonita.
Sylive was one of the cutest dogs I've ever seen. Black as night with one ear that sticks straight up like a shepherd...and one ear that flops out to the side. She was constantly smiling and wagging her tail, and even leaning into my side of the car to lick me on the face. I can't believe that poor girl had spent time in DEVORE. In case the readers aren't aware, Devore is literally dog hell. And if you're a black dog? Forget it, you really don't stand a chance.
An hour and a half and some confusion later, Sylvie was dropped at the boarding facility. I said goodbye and wished her luck and was on my way home. Little did I know, that was not the last I would see of Sylvie! That Friday, I received a direct email from a woman at the same rescue that had arranged Sylvie's transport for Monday, asking if I could transport her again. YES! I was free. I was to pick Sylvie up at the boarding facility in Bonita and drive her to Corona, the same town that Chance was rescued from just a few weeks earlier. And this time, I decided to bring the new kid with me to revisit the town in which he had been a stray just a month before. Chance and Sylvie wrestled in the back of my car the entire way from Bonita to Corona. It was quite noisy, but they were just in love. My backseat looked like it was covered in fur for a few days after, but it was all worth it to see how happy they were back there! So much for Sylvie's bath she had just gotten before she left boarding! She now had slobber ALL over her from Chance (oops). Around 12:30pm, Sylvie was dropped with her next temporary foster and partial transport. On Monday morning, she would be on a plane to her forever home in Chicago!
That Friday transport ended up taking 3 hours and 50 minutes, and I covered 222 miles. Each and every second and mile was worth seeing Sylvie's update online. She had made it safely to Chicago, and would now be a Midwestern girl! I am proud and humbled to have been a part of the rescue and success story of a Devore dog! GO SYLVIE!
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