About two months ago, we discovered Bravo at a local open access shelter in Chicago. Bravo was quietly lying down in his cage and just peered up at us as we walked by. He was in pain and had given up on life. For that matter, life had given up on him, as it was the final hours before he was to be euthanized.
When we took Bravo out of his cage we were stunned to see that his testicles were the size of a grapefruit. They were so sensitive that he could barely handle sitting down on the hard floor. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Bravo had terrible infections in both ears and many of his teeth were cracked and or missing altogether. Even though we knew it was a long shot, we wanted to give Bravo every chance possible to make it. In any case, if he was too far-gone, we wanted him to leave this world in our arms and not on a cold shelter floor.
Once arriving at the vet, Bravo went into surgery to have his testicles removed and sent off to be tested. While under, Bravo received dental surgery and had his ears thoroughly cleaned and treated for infection. The vet thought that his chances of survival were slim but we prayed for the best.
As the days turned into weeks, Bravo slowly came around and before you knew it his ears started to perk up and he had a ravenous appetite. Our miracle senior had made a full recovery and had beaten the odds.
Well, as fate would have it, my mom happened to be in town and we had some time to spare before she had to catch her train. I asked my mom is she wanted to run over to Unleashed to see the “Trio” rescue rooms and the dogs that we were sponsoring …she agreed.
Bravo was still recovering and my mom asked if she could go into his suite and sit down with him. When it was time for my mom to catch her train, she gave Bravo a quick kiss on the head and off we went.
Every few days my mom would text me to see how he was doing, as she could not stop thinking about him and the connection that they had made. I guess our chance visit to Unleashed, so long ago, paid off because my mom came back to town this weekend and adopted Bravo. When he saw her, he walked right over and buried his head into her open arms. I think that he knew that his friend had come back for him and that he was going home.
I did not see this one coming at all and I am absolutely thrilled. If you had told me weeks ago that Bravo would now be part of my family, I would never have believed it. I guess that there are Powers greater than us in this world and they guide us in the direction that we are meant to go.
A huge thank you to Bridgid, of Project Rescue Chicago, for taking a chance and bringing Bravo into PRC’s program. Without Bridgid’s compassion for the underdogs, Bravo would never have made it out of the shelter and my mom wouldn’t have her new best friend.
