Adopted
Charlie From a land far, far away comes a remarkable tale of one dog’s journey to a new life…….
We occasionally get dogs from outside our service area of Central Texas. They come from as far away as San Angelo to the west, Houston to the east, Waco to the north and Corpus Christi to the south. We’re only able to do this thanks to the efforts of GRR friends and volunteers in those areas, since we need someone affiliated with our group to do an in-person evaluation on each incoming dog. It’s extremely unusual for us to take a dog from another state, much less one from a foreign country—but that’s just what happened with young Charlie. So sit back and listen to the “tail” of how he came to GRR.
The story starts back in May 2005, when our Medical Coordinator, Mike Chamberlain, was on hotline duty. Here’s what he had to say after talking to Charlie’s owners:
“What an amazing couple. They were working in Taipei, Taiwan, and came across a stray Golden Retriever some months ago. A very young boy came up to them with Charlie; after they petted the pup for a while, the boy signaled to them to hold Charlie for a minute, disappeared around a corner—and vanished into thin air, leaving them with Charlie. They took him in, in hopes of finding a rescue group. However, there seemed to be no such thing in Taiwan. They also found out that if the dog went to the pound, he would be put down after three days—and they electrocute, drown, or bury dogs over there. So they decided to bring Charlie back to the states and hand him over to a rescue group here. They describe Charlie as a good dog around other dogs and kids. They don,t have kids at home, but he was exposed a lot to small kids in Taiwan.”
GRR was all set to take Charlie when the owner let us know he’d found a home for his pup on his own. We wished him well, and asked him to let the new owner know she could call us if things didn’t work out.
That call came on March 7 of this year. Charlie’s new owner found that she didn’t really have enough time or space for this boy. She said that he was the most wonderful dog ever, lovely with kids, smart as could be, and she wanted him to have a better life and more attention. And just few days later, Charlie arrived in his GRR foster home at last!
Taiwan Charlie has been with us for a couple of weeks now, waiting for his forever family. Given all he has been through in his short life, just being alive and well makes him a success story already! And some family will be getting the dog of a lifetime. Everything reported about wonderful Charlie is true, and then some. Charlie has a nose black as lacquer, eyes that reflect endless optimism, and a smile that lights up your heart. He is a small, gentle fellow with a keen yearning to learn all he can to please, and waiting for the day when he will once again have a child to love—like the little boy Taiwan who set him in the path of two American travelers, hoping for a better life for sweet Charlie.