TAIL TALK
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Bruce is going to a shelter care home. Last year he lost his best friend, Jenny. Jenny's final request as she lay dying was to ask Bruce to care of her most beloved friend, a Cocker Spaniel named Lela. Jenny loved Lela so much she kept a memory box with her photos and all the information from the day she was born, from every vet visit to every other milestone throughout her 8 year life. Lela was Jenny's baby, and looking at her photo it's no wonder because she's an incredibly beautiful dog. Then last year came the moment when Jenny crossed the horizon from the limit of our sight into God's loving arms, leaving Lela with the promise of a loving life with Bruce. Unfortunately when Bruce made that promise he did not foresee his own health problems that would bring him to our door on this dark winter day. As soon as they arrived Lela knew why they were there. She wrapped her paws around his legs and started to cry in a way that tears your heart out when you hear it because you recognize the pain in the very depths of your soul. As they tried to break her from the bond of love that had kept her safe and warm all these years she started to howl in a manner we don't hear often because it is the sound of a heart that is literally breaking from the love that is being taken from it. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. You couldn't help but be touched by the scene that was playing out in front of us. The unfortunate and really sad part of this story is this didn't have to be. Jenny has children that could have brought about a different ending to this story but none could be bothered to take their mother's beloved Lela. Instead they left it to Bruce to deal with the emotional devastation of having to renege on his deathbed promise to his beloved Jenny. Bruce made calls to 5 other shelters before he called ours, and ours was the only one that would help him in his time of despair. He was told by 2 others they would put Lela down because of her age and the others wouldn't even give him a chance to talk, it was just... No, click. I give thanks to God we are a caring, no-kill shelter that caught Jenny's baby when she fell because this dog will literally die of a broken heart if she stays in the shelter very long. Our President Heidi is searching the country over far and wide to find a rescue that perhaps will find this old girl a loving home to live out her last days with someone in case no one from Randolph County steps up to adopt her. Not that anyone will ever replace Jenny or Bruce, but we need to find someone that at least will love her in a manner that will allow the grace of God to shine through to take care of the least of them amongst us, this girl that was the light and life of a woman that died believing her beloved dog would be loved until her dying breath. I can't stress enough how important it is that we find a home soon to save the life of this special girl, because she is literally dying of a broken heart. Heidi will continue working to find a rescue that will at least find her a "for right now" home because she will not survive weeks at the shelter, but if there is anyone out there that can open their heart please, please step up now because Lela needs you. She has so much love to give, if only there is someone that can open their heart to let her in, you will be blessed in ways you have never imagined because you will be fulfilling the final wish a dying woman. Please help. Please… Lela needs you.