Karma, Milwaukee, WI
Hi, my name is Karma Rue!
A long time ago I was found running around a not so nice neighborhood. The person that turned me in to animal control reported hearing “gun shots” right before they saw me. When I had my physical evaluation done they found a few wounds on my face and neck from metal BB pellets.
The humans think the person must have pulled the trigger point blank in front of me because I was a really small target — I only weighted about 10 lbs — and hit me right on the forehead! 🙁 I’ve still got a little scar, but you can hardly see it.
Anyway, after seven days of stray hold, a wonderful lady pulled me out of that lonely place and I became a foster puppy! Oh, what a wonderful life! I got to do what ever I wanted and played with my foster siblings all the time! I had toys and food and my very own collar. Sure it made my neck itchy, but that collar meant something very important! It meant I had a home, even if it was only temporary.
I also got to go to doggy daycare once a week so I could play and make even more friends! It was really fun, but one day, all that changed… I slipped running up some stairs and before I knew it, I was at the vets office. I got some x-rays done because I was limping an awful lot and they told my mom I had a fractured leg!
Because I didn’t belong to her, my foster mom had to tell animal control, and when they found out they told her to take me back… to be euthanized!
I was just a puppy! I promised my foster mom, “I’ll behave, I’ll try not to run around any more and I’ll walk slowly up the stairs! I’ll give up all my toys, just please don’t take me back there!”
To my surprise, I think she heard me! She said she would adopt me and find me a new home if she had to; she wouldn’t let them kill me because of my accident. So I got a pink cast on my little leg and some pain medication and she talked animal control into giving me a chance. They told her they needed proof that I wouldn’t need surgery, because they couldn’t afford to pay for it.
So she got some opinions from multiple vets, some said I did need surgery and others said I didn’t. It took a couple weeks to get a final answer. During that time a fundraiser was made, so that if I did need surgery, they would have the money saved up to pay for it. The estimate was for surgery was $1,200 and in 3 days almost $600 was raised!
The final decision was made by a specialist who wrote a letter stating that I wouldn’t need a surgery, because in fact, over the past weeks my leg had already been healing. Plus if a surgery were done, they would have to re-fracture my leg! He said I was a strong puppy, and my leg would be fine. All I needed was crate rest! PHEW! 🙂
Eight weeks of crate rest. That was the verdict. So the money that was raised for me was donated to other dogs in need and I got to play lazy in a crate for a while. I thought it would be easy, but boy oh boy… I sure did miss sleeping under the covers in bed!
Every day I wondered what would happen to me when I finally got out of that crate. Where would I end up? I was still with my foster mom, which was way better than animal control, but it wasn’t permanent… I didn’t know that someone had been going through this struggle with me all along.
There was this one person working at the doggy daycare who met me on my first day there and thought I was adorable! She thought we would go together like two peas in a pod, Carla and Carmen, but she didn’t really plan on adopting me… that is, until the day I fractured my leg. That day, when I thought I was going to be put to sleep, she knew she had to adopt me.
She filled out the paperwork and was willing to pay for anything I needed, but she didn’t get an answer. It wasn’t until over eight weeks later that she found out… 🙂
My life officially started when I was adopted on April 17th, 2012. That’s the day everything changed, including my name! That was the day I became something permanent, a real part of the world. I could tell that it wasn’t temporary, I didn’t have to wait around anymore, because that “love” thing that everyone is looking for in life? Well, I found it!
So since that day I’ve made it my mission to be good and do good. I know people think I’m different. I can see it in their eyes; when they stare, when they step away… when they cross the street.
Sure, I might be a pit bull… But I’m not a monster. I’m a dog. I like green olives, swimming and playing fetch. I feel joy, I feel excitement and I feel love.
My name is Karma and I am good!
p.s. Follow me on my Facebook page, Good Karma Rue, as I advocate for Canine Equality and be the spokesdog for Good Karma Canine!
Parent: Carla