Augusta, Georgia. Many home foreclosures have filled up the local animal control shelter, forcing them to euthanize owner turn-ins. A plea went out to rescue 5 little puppies turned in by their owner because they had ringworm (a very treatable fungus) and she didn't want to bother with the treatment. This owner had allowed her cocker spaniel breed with her chihuahua, resulting in these 5 adorable puppies. I have 3 words for her: SPAY, NEUTER and IRRESPONSIBLE. Those are my
nice words...
We quickly evaluated space & foster room, and decided to drive to Augusta and pull these pups from certain death. And off we went, on Sunday, Sept. 14. It's about a 140 mile, 2 hour drive from Atlanta to Augusta. We figured we'd drive there in the morning, pick up the puppies, and drive back, arriving in Atlanta by 1 p.m. Ha! Little did we know....
First hurdle: Augusta traffic construction. Jeez, ya think they could put SIGNS on their EXITS! What a concept. So after passing our exit not once, not twice but 3 times, we finally exited correctly. By the way, nice canvas covers on all the informational signs. Thanks.
OK, we finally made it to Animal Control, just before noon, after passing by a TRACTOR SUPPLY COMPANY (on one of our wrong exits). So I said, Hey! Let's stop there on the way back to get a few bags of pine pellet horse bedding. For those of you in the kitty rescue biz, it may "behoove" you to know that pine pellet horse bedding is.... Feline Pine! Yup, it's the same thing and it costs a mere 6 dollars per 40 pound bag at the feed store. It makes GREAT kitty litter!
So we get the puppies loaded up in the car (not too difficult since they're so tiny) and head back to the Tractor Supply Company. I find a semi-shady spot (it's only 100 degrees in Augusta) (at least that's what it felt like) and park. Nancy stays with the pups while I shop. After loading up 4 bags of horse pine pellets, and other miscellaneous supplies -- what a great store -- I jump in the car and get ready to go.
And..... it won't get out of Park. No matter how hard I press the brake, jam the shift stick, or turn off/on the car, open/shut doors, etc. It will NOT get out of Park. I cannot shift the car. OMG, what do we do??? We're 140 miles from home, we know no one in Augusta, it's 100 degrees, and we have 5 puppies!
After futtzling around a bit, I decided to go back into Tractor Supply Co. and ask around. "Ummm, hello. I was just in here and got in my car and can't get it out of park. We're from Atlanta, we've got rescue puppies in the car, and don't know who to call. Do you have any ideas?" The bright cheerful cashier checks her watch, and says, "Well, if you can wait for 10 minutes, John is coming in, and he's a mechanic!" Yes, I can wait 1o minutes. "And, you can bring the puppies in here while you wait!"
Wow. We LOVE Tractor Supply Company!
After John arrived and checked out our car, while sweating profusely (it was really hot), he called his mechanic friend, who headed over to fix the car for us. All this on a Sunday afternoon when everything was closed. All for strangers. And puppies. Two women stranded in a strange city, and everyone was so helpful.
So I am here to tell you: If you ever need a mechanic in Augusta, go to
Hinson Automotive. If you ever need farm or pet supplies, go to
Tractor Supply Company (they have many locations throughout the southeast).
As for those 5 puppies: Ringworm treated, spayed & neutered, and all adopted now. See our website for the pics: Moki, Tallulah, Pakuna, Tavo (and Mukki the runt will be adopted this Saturday).
