It was a cold and icy morning on my commute to work. I had just stopped at the drive-thru window at Starbucks to get a cup of coffee and I was heading to the office.

As I stopped at a red light, I noticed a dog sitting in the middle of Renner Road where I was about to turn. She was covered in sleet and she was clearly frozen, not only from the cold, but from pure fear. Cars were going around her but no one was stopping. I knew I had to do something to save her. I made the turn and pulled my car over to the side, threw it into park and jumped out. I managed to scare her out of the street into a neighbourhood
where she took refuge on someone’s porch.

As I approached her, she was baring her teeth and snarling. There was no way she was going to let me get near her. But at least she was safe and undercover,
unlike me who was standing in the cold getting covered in sleet. I knew I couldn’t just leave her, so I decided to call animal control to come get her. I hated the idea of her going to a shelter, but I didn’t have a choice since she was so vicious. I stood on the corner waiting for animal control to come get her while several cars stopped to ask me if I needed help (since no one in their right mind would be standing outside in that weather).

Animal control finally arrived and they had to use the dreaded loop to get her off the porch. As I drove away I heard her yelping and I saw her in my rearview mirror, fighting the officer all the way to his vehicle. It completely broke my heart.
Once I got to the office, I explained why I was late and then quickly got on the phone to animal control to get an update on the dog. They informed me that she had been put into a holding pen and she’d have five days for someone to claim her. After that she’d either be put up for adoption or have to be put down.
Needless to say, I went to visit her twice that day to see for myself that she was really okay. She was still snarling at me, so I didn’t dare enter her run, but I did buy some treats to give her through the cage wire. Every morning I’d call the shelter and I’d say “Please tell me someone claimed that dog” and they’d respond “not yet.” After I hung up the phone, I’d go make several visits to her, telling her that I wasn’t going to give up on her.

Finally, on her third day at the shelter, I was brave enough to enter her pen. We were both scared of each other but we both wanted to trust each other desperately. I finally reached out to her and she allowed me to touch her. Once I made that contact it was all over…she started licking me and jumping on me to the point where I had to get on the shelter floor so she could snuggle into me. We had made that connection that no words can explain. I knew right then that I couldn’t leave her to fate because fate had already spoken…it looked as though I was getting a dog.

On the last two days of her five-day waiting period, I called the shelter each morning and asked “Please tell me no one claimed that dog.” They just laughed and assured me that no one had called about her but me.

On her sixth morning, I got to the shelter before they opened and filled out the adoption papers. They all got teary as I walked out with the ferocious,
ice-coated mutt I had found in the street five days earlier.

And that is the story of how I found my best friend, Rennie, named after the street where I found her. That was on January 29, 2007 and every year on that date we go back to the spot where I found her so I can tell her how she is a gift in my life. I can’t imagine my life without her in it and she has brought so much joy to me. We go everywhere together. And although she still has fear aggression issues to this day (she was only five months old when I found her but she had clearly been abused) I wouldn’t change anything about her.

So the next time you see a stray, take a minute to try to save it. It just might be the greatest decision you ever make. It certainly was for me.