Wiley signaled for the rest of the team and they
quickly joined him, and in seconds, Maggie found herself
surrounded by Buster’s exhausted team of dogs. “Maggie’s
going to help us,” said Wiley, proudly introducing his new
friend.
The team responded, “Thanks Maggie.”
“Follow me,” said Maggie. “I’m going to take you to
my home where my mistress Kate can help you. She owns
a dog rescue service.”
“A rescue home. Great!” shouted the team, amazed at
their good fortune. With that, Maggie led off down the
street with Buster’s team following closely behind.
When Wiley caught up to Maggie, she said, “I
thought you said there were twelve dogs.”
Wiley explained that there were two other teams of
four dogs out searching for a place to stay. “When we get
to your home, I’ll call them all in,” he said.
The dogs passed small older bungalows, vacant lots,
57
and some abandoned houses as they followed Maggie down
one street and up another. When they came to an
intersection, Maggie stopped. Kitty-corner to them was a
large, old, two-story yellow house. Maggie said proudly,
“That’s my home.” There was a happy silence as they all
viewed Maggie’s home with a statue of a rescue dog on the
front lawn and a sign that read “New Life Rescue Home.”
“Call the other teams in.” Wiley instructed and the
dogs let out very loud howls.
In a couple of minutes, Astro and Bouncers’ teams
converged from different directions in front of the large
two story yellow house. Astro ran up to them and asked,
“What did you find?”
Looking at Maggie, Wiley answered. “If it’s o.k. with
Maggie’s mistress, we will get to stay the night,” as the
blue collar dogs barked their approval.
At that moment, a nice looking lady in her mid-fifties
came out on the front porch. This was Kate, Maggie’s
mistress. She watched Maggie and the pack of dogs milling
around in front of her house and exclaimed, “Oh my God
Where did you all come from?” Then she zeroed in on
58
Maggie. “Maggie, this is too many.”
Maggie appeared downcast and the blue collar dogs
put on their best behavior. Kate shook her head. “I would
like to help, but there are too many of you.”
At that point the dogs voiced their frantic disappointment
with pathetic moans and groans and Maggie
chipped in with a bark of support. While Kate could see
that these dogs had been through some very rough times,
she remained uncertain about what to do.
In the distance the headlights of a vehicle advanced
down her street, and the dogs turned their heads toward the
on coming car. Buster remarked, “That crazy doc is
coming.”
Wiley pointed his ears up, “I can hear him.”
Kate sensed the fear in their eyes and said, “All right,
but just tonight.” Maggie pushed the gate open and the
dogs quietly surged into the front yard, but they still
appeared anxious about the approaching lights. Kate
understood and said calmly, “Follow me.”
The dogs quietly followed Kate as she walked around
the side of the house to the back yard and past a large
59
garden. Then they went by some dog kennels with a couple
of dogs inside. As they passed the kennels, Buster
whispered, “Can we trust her?
Wiley responded hopefully, “She’s a good person.”
With Maggie at her side, Kate lead the blue collar
dogs to a large, old wooden storage shed at the rear of the
property. She opened the door and walked over to a water
faucet and turned on the water. Slowly as water started to
fill a large metal tub, the dogs filed inside the shed,
surrounded the tub and drank.
Kate tried to assure the dogs. “You’re safe here. I'll be
back later with food.” Maggie looked over at an exhausted
Wiley, softly smiled and left with Kate.
Back inside the old two-story house, Kate was on the
phone with her friend and fellow animal rescue associate.
“Jan, you won't believe what I did,” she said. “I just took in
12 dogs. I must be crazy.”
Jan’s home was also a small animal shelter where she
nursed dogs and cats to good health and found homes for
them. “You know, times are tough,” Jan replied. “People
60
are abandoning their pets in record numbers. But twelve
dogs? I don’t understand.”
“This is different. They're all older dogs, with no tags,
just blue collars. These dogs escaped from something and
they don’t want to go back,” answered Kate.
“It doesn't help that the press calls your neighborhood
the Canine Triangle,” suggested Jan.
“You’re right. It's a crazy myth. People actually
believe the newspaper stories that dogs just mysteriously
disappear in the Canine Triangle. So they drive into my
neighborhood and abandon their pets.”
“Who do these owners think is going to take care of
their dogs?” asked Jan.
“Good question,” said Kate, “Anyway I have a full
house tonight. Bye for now, Jan.”
61
