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her return to the Weatherford shelter , a man adopted Judy and everyone was thrilled for her .
That lasted just a few days . The man brought Judy back to the shelter , saying his older female Shih Tzu was not pleased with Judy . He tossed Judy out on her tail , so to speak .
Then summer arrived . At the shelter , summer spells soaring population numbers , and waning adoption rates . People tend to hesitate to adopt new pets in summer , if they ’ re planning to take a vacation , because they don ’ t want to have to pay to board a brand new pet .
Besides the usual challenges of summer , a few tragic events befell the shelter . Two hoarding cases were investigated and a total of 100 dogs were confiscated and brought to the shelter . Then in two days , more than 60 cats were brought to the shelter , mostly by people turning in strays .
By mid-July , the shelter was bursting at the seams , and time was running out for the little brindle dog with the bright eyes , expressive ears , and perpetually wagging tail .
No matter how many volunteers believed that Judy was an extraordinary dog , she had simply been at the shelter for too long . She landed on the euthanasia list . With the shelter at capacity and no one interested in adopting her , Judy was essentially on doggie death row .
Deborah Haller had volunteered with the shelter for over two years . “ They call me the closer ,” she said , with a note of pride in her voice . Haller knew that Judy loved water so she shot a video with her phone while Judy played in a kiddie pool on the shelter grounds . She posted the video clip on the shelter Facebook page . It was adorable . “ I posted her video on as many sites as I could ,” Haller said . “ I added on the post that Judy would be euthanized on Wednesday [ July 19 ] unless someone adopted her .”
In Virginia , Shannon Midkiff sat at her computer on Wednesday afternoon , browsing , and looking for nothing in particular . She stumbled across a video clip of Judy , splashing around in the kiddie pool . It made her smile .
“ I just fell in love with her ,”
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Deborah Haller with “ Judy ”
Midkiff said .
Then she noticed the words . “ Urgent — To be Euthanized Wednesday , July 19 th .”
She called the Weatherford / Parker County Animal Shelter immediately .
“ I called the shelter and they said she is going to be put down today if nobody adopts her ,” she said . “ I said there is no way I can get there today . I ’ m in Virginia . The lady at the shelter said that she had to be gone ( Wednesday ).”
Through Facebook , Midkiff knew three people that lived in the Weatherford area . She contacted one of them . The woman knew Haller and she got in touch with her .
It ’ s a 21-hour drive each way from Midkiff ’ s home near Virginia Beach , VA , to Weatherford , TX .
“ I didn ’ t know if we should drive it or I should fly out and drive back or what ,” she said . Still , the shelter staff said , “ No . She has to be out of here by tomorrow .“
“ But , eventually , we got it all
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worked out ,” Midkiff said . “ It just turned out that my father-in-law , who ’ s a retired fighter pilot , has a plane and he was more than happy to fly us out here .”
The Midkiffs already had two dogs , both females . One is a Doberman and the other is a pug , a rescue dog .
“ Our Doberman used to run with my husband every day . But , our Doberman had become epileptic over the last year ,” Midkiff said . “ Her health has declined . My husband wanted to get another Doberman and I said , ’ We don ’ t need another dog .’” But , then she saw Judy and her attitude changed .
“ I immediately loved her spunk and her playfulness when I saw her playing around at the shelter . I said , ‘ We have to do something . She can ’ t be put down .’ I asked my husband and he saw the video and he said , ’ Oh yeah , we have to have her .’”
Midkiff called the shelter again .
Continued on page 12
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AUGUST 2017 PARKER COUNTY TODAY
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