Story submitted 2013-02-19

Teddy, our 3-year-old, short-haired red boy, was found wandering in a park in Huntington, Indiana in late 2012. He was surrendered to the local Humane Society, where they called him "Rusty." The Humane Society called DRNA when no one claimed Rusty after 3 weeks. He was not neutered and showed little evidence of previous veterinary care, but he was very friendly and eager for affection, so our best guess is that he was dropped in the park by a family who loved him but couldn't afford to take care of him. After the Humane Society got in touch with DRNA, foster mom extraordinaire Debby drove 3 hours from her home in Illinois to pick up Rusty in Indiana and brought him home to stay with her, her husband Steve, and their dogs. Rusty thrived at Debby's--he got the veterinary care he needed and the love he craved.





When my husband Sean and I saw Rusty's picture on the DRNA site in December of 2012, we knew we had found our boy. We had just gotten married in November and were eager to add a dachshund to our new little family. Lois, the regional coordinator for DRNA, was very helpful to us as we got to know Debby, learned about Rusty, and made plans to bring him home. She offered to coordinate a volunteer relay to bring Rusty from Illinois to our home in Brooklyn, but warned us that the process could take up to a few months. I didn't think we could wait that long to get our baby home, so I arranged to fly to Chicago, where I met Debby and Rusty at the airport. He came home last Thursday, and is already adjusting to life in the big city. He's adjusting to his new name, too--we have a tradition of naming our dogs after US presidents in our family, so "Rusty" is now "Theodore Roosevelt," or, as his friends call him, "Teddy." He is already our dear, sweet, perfect boy, and we are so grateful to DRNA for bringing such great joy into our lives.





Mary and Sean Herman