Text Box: What is the saddest sight in everyday life? I don’t mean the most gloomily tragic, but the saddest.” A lost child? No. Let a child stand in the middle of a crowded sidewalk and begin to cry. In one minute fifty amateur and professional rescuers have flocked to the lost one’s aid. An hour, at most, suffices to bring it in touch with its frenzied guardians. A lost dog? Yes. No succoring cohort surges to the relief. A gang of boys, perhaps, may give chase, but assuredly not in kindness. A policemen seeking a record for “mad dog” shooting - a professional dogcatcher in quest of his dirty fee – these will show marked attention to the wanderer. But, again, not kindness. A dog, at some turn in the street, misses his master – doubles back to where the human demigod was last seen – darts ahead once more to find him, through the press of other human folk - halts, hesitates, begins the same maneuvers all over again; then stands, shaking in panic at his utter aloneness. Get the look in his eyes, then – you who do not mind seeing such things - and answer, honestly: Is there anything sadder on earth? All this, before the pursuit of boys and the fever of thirst and then final knowledge of desolation have turned him from a handsome and prideful pet into a slinking outcast. Yes, a lost dog is the saddest thing that can meet the gaze of a man or woman who understands dogs. Albert Payson Terhune from Lad: A Dog Also author of Lassie Our new collie, Lassie, would certainly agree with Mr. Terhune. Lassie is eight years old, a bit older than most dogs found wandering the streets, but some misfortune thrust him out there. Limping from severe arthritis, Lassie was trying to survive the streets of New Orleans, taking care of a smaller dog, a mongrel. The pair turned up on the driveway of someone who reported them to the local pound, and the two friends would have ended their lives together that very day had not a rescue miracle occurred. A lady in New Orleans who runs a Mutt Rescue home took in Lassie’s little friend, but she couldn’t leave behind the big shaggy collie who had befriended that little soul, so she called us. When we agreed to take him, she even delivered him to us here in Mississippi. We named this beautiful dog Lassie, because he looks just like the Lassie we all remember from TV. And like the dog actor that played Lassie in that program, he’s a he! We hope we can promise him a long life of stardom in someone’s heart, but first we have to cure him of the ailments that beset him during his time on the street. Oh -- some of you may be wondering if Lassie misses his little friend. I’m sure he does. But I hope he chooses a special friend amongst our Meadowview Collies. Thanks to our sanctuary program, Lassie was able to live out the rest of his life in a loving home. He went to Rainbow bridge in the spring of 2002.

Last updated 5/15/2002

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