Mr. Beasley's Story!

Mr. Beasley's Story!

Mr. Beasley was my friend!

I'm a member of Dachshund Rescue of North America, and meet a lot of dogs, but this one is special. This is a story about Mr. Beasley, who was a friend of mine that I rescued here in Atlanta.

Beasley was originally yard dog. After several years of neglect in a, a relative took him home, but he just moved from the yard to the basement. They were gone for up to 14 hours a day and he was lonely in the basement, so he barked. So, they put a shock collar on him to keep him from barking. Except he was still lonely and barked anyway, so they called me to come get him.

I literally got him from the basement, and the first thing I did was to throw away his shock collar.

I added the Mr. to his name. He was a four year-old red smooth dachshund, about 14 pounds and carried himself with dignity. He was at ease with me immediately. Rescues seem to be comfortable with me in general, but Mr. Beasley acted like an old friend. Mr. Beasley was an alpha male and did not like other male dogs much so I fostered him with a family here in Georgia for about a month while we looked for a good home for him. A young couple in North Carolina had applied to adopt a dog and I approved them for Mr. Beasley. Several DRNA members helped transport him from Atlanta to his new family in North Carolina.

Mr. Beasley made himself at home wherever he was, and the moment he met Lisa and Gene he was a member of the family. He bonded with Gene immediately; but Mr. Beasley quickly let Lisa know that he loved her also. They took him to the vet, who gave him a clean bill of health.

About two weeks after the adoption, Mr. Beasley woke up one morning in severe pain and could barely move his head. It was initially misdiagnosed as a pulled muscle by the emergency clinic, but within a few days he was taken to a specialist who identified the problem as a bad disc in his neck. The choice was very expensive surgery to repair the disc or put Mr. Beasley to sleep. The decision was to go for the surgery and Mr. Beasley was operated on 11/9/00. It appeared that the disc problem was fixed, but Mr. Beasley had heart failure while in recovery. He was revived three times, but on the fourth time he did not come back; we lost Mr. Beasley.

This is not supposed to happen like this; I got him his family and gave him a good life, so how could he die now? It wasn't fair! There is no answer, except that he got to be loved and cared for, if only for a brief time. I'm glad I got to meet him and so are Lisa and Gene. In two weeks he touched them in a way they did not think was possible. For me he should have been just another rescue, but somehow he was special. You couldn't think about Mr. Beasley without smiling. But there is more to this story.

When Mr. Beasley's neck problem started and he was taken to the emergency clinic, the vet tech asked where such a good-looking dog came from. Lisa explained about Dachshund Rescue of North America and how they adopted him. Within an hour of treating Mr. Beasley, a policeman brought in a one year old miniature Dachshund named Freddy; Freddy had been attacked by a Pit Bull. Freddy's owner, who had let him run loose, wanted the police officer to shoot Freddy so they wouldn't have to pay any vet bills. Instead Freddy was brought to the clinic and his wounds were tended to, but now no one owned him. His previous owners had signed away their rights to him. The vet tech that had asked about Mr. Beasley's past called me from the clinic and I immediately agreed to take Freddy as a DRNA rescue. Within hours of the phone call, I received an adoption application from a woman ten miles from the clinic in North Carolina that had Freddy. The same person who brought Mr. Beasley up to his family interviewed her and did a home check while I checked references. That night Freddy went to his new home, thanks to Mr. Beasley. I called Freddy's Mom last night to check on him, and Freddy is doing fine. Was all this coincidental? What are the chances that the next application for adoption that I got would be from NC, let alone Gastonia? I live in Atlanta. What are the chances that these dogs would show up at the clinic on the same night?

Maybe Mr. Beasley only had a short time to live anyway, and this was his destiny. I don't know. But I'm glad I got to know him and all his friends.

Mr. Beasley had an impact on the world much bigger than his fourteen pounds would suggest. Very few of us will deserve the tribute that Lisa wrote, especially from people who have known us for only two weeks.

See you later, Mr. Beasley.
--Tom Flynn

Well, today we put Beasley to rest. We took him to a friend's ranch house out in the country. She is a huge animal lover. When we arrived, they had a place ready for him to rest in a garden with candles in his honor. (They had never even met him) We reminisced about the times we had with Beasley. Our friends were very loving and understanding. I feel much better knowing that Beasley is resting in a very loving place surrounded by beauty. They gave us a book called "Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul" along with "The Rainbow Bridge" prayer. Our hearts are in peace now. Our friend told us that may be Beasley knew he was going to be sick and that he was waiting to find a kind and loving family to help him to the bridge. We are missing him so much, but we know that he will never be in pain again. Thanks so much to all of you, Tom especially. And, yes, we will be adopting another rescue doxie soon. Thank you, again. See you later, Mr. Beasley .