It’s National Rescue Day And Zoe’s Gotcha Day In The Same Week

Before my wife and I bought our first house two years ago, we were perfectly happy with our two cats.  We were even contemplating getting a third one after we became first time homeowners in April of 2020.  Given how that year turned out we were just glad to get into an amazing little house we could finally call home and since we couldn't go anywhere, we just immersed ourselves into home projects.  By the end of the fall that year we shaped up our backyard and made it look even more adorable.  And then, one cool and bright Sunday morning as I was waiting for football to start, I stared out of our kitchen window and into the backyard and realized; we needed a dog.

Often in radio we come across rescue agencies at the same events and some times we'll do studio interviews with the dog or dogs present.  It's hard because you want to bring every dog home with you every week or month.  My wife and I made an agreement when we decided it was time to get a dog.  We would let it find us.  In March of 2021 I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and came across a local rescue agencies post.  I clicked on it and the cutest dog I had ever seen was looking for a "fur-ever" home.  I called them immediately and asked about her.  That's when I started hearing details about "Willow."

Willow was brought to a Veterinarian's office as a puppy by a homeless person who couldn't care for her.  It was there where they discovered that she had parvo.  They immediately began treatment and set her up with a foster family to care for her once she became healthy and safe enough to be around other dogs.  She was on the puppy road to recovery.

Once I learned about everything Willow had been through I immediately sent a screen shot of her to my wife.  She quickly sent a text back wanting to know about her.  We chatted for about 5 minutes with the intention of contacting the rescue and putting paperwork in to adopt her.  As soon as I got off the phone and called them back, I found out that adoption papers were already submitted by someone else.  I thought this was just a sign that she wasn't meant for us.

It's funny how something can randomly pop in and out of your life whether it's impactful or now.  Six weeks later when I was on Facebook, Willow's adoption story popped up in my feed AGAIN.  I learned later that people that tried to adopt her were not approved and she was going to be at an upcoming adoption event that our radio stations were going to be at.  I told my wife and we both fully prepared to meet her at the event, fall in love and bring her home and that's basically what happened.  Her whole demeanor around small children is what sold us.  She was so gentle and just loved getting head pets.  So, where do we sign?

We didn't mind the name Willow but once we got past the home visit and got her settled in, we started working on referring to her as Zoe and she started answering to that in about week.  I can honestly say that if it hadn't been for literally nobody wanting her for two months, we probably would've just gotten another cat.  This sweet little copper-colored lab mix is ours and we would not have wanted to  this to happen any other way.