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Now, you know how much I love writing these stories, but I think this time I'll just be quiet and let someone else do the telling. Here is the e-mail I received:
"Dear Holly, Judy asked me to tell you about the wonderful dog that I found under one of my junk cars that I use for training our drivers in my company. I am an Area Trainer for Republic Services in Apopka. I train our new employees from all over the state how to drive and operate our waste trucks properly and safely. I have a simulated road from a neighborhood that has mailboxes, traffic signs, an overhead wire, garbage cans, basketball pole, bicycles and cars. At break time for my new employees I noticed a dog under one of my "parked" cars in my simulated street. As I got close to the car I noticed that the dog was a Pitbull that looked in bad shape. After hearing all of the bad stories about Pitbulls, I was a little concerned about getting near it. I took a chance and got as close as I could to the dog. He looked so scared and was in bad shape. I tried to get him to come out but he would not, so I left him there and figured he would come out when he was ready. At the end of the day he was still under the car. He still would not come out so I decided to leave him under the car and left the gate a little open so he could leave if he wanted to. The next morning I did not see him under the car so for some reason I thought to check our shop which is empty except for one truck and he was in our empty parts room. Now I had to gain some courage up and go into the room where he was in the back. I made my way to him and noticed how bad his skin was and the discharge from his eyes which to me were beautiful and so innocent. I reached out to him "knowing" he was going to lock onto my arm and break it because that is what these dogs are supposed to do. He let me gently touch his head which was one of the few places on his body which was not bleeding or oozing. His eyes were sad and wanting to be loved. I got food and water for him and then set some of my clothes down for him to sleep on for the night. I opened up our empty shop office which still had the ac working and hoped he would go in there and I would check on him in the morning. The next morning he was in the office on a chair that I had my clothes on. I started to to gently rub his head again but this time he reacted with a lick on my face and a wagging tail! My journey with this loving pitbull had started. I believe that God brought this wonderful dog into my life for a reason. I have always loved animals and have helped others (always cats as I am a cat person) but this one is special. I went to work on the weekend to spend time with him and feed him. He was so weak that he did not get down off the chair. I had to hand feed him and also give him water to his mouth. My friend Sue from RAIN gave me Judy and Debbie's numbers from Pet Rescue By Judy. I got in touch with Debbie who met me at the shop on Sunday night to look at the dog which I though was a puppy. She told me that he was a Blue Pitbull and that he a had "Puppy Skin Disease". Debbie told me to contact Judy who would take the dog. I called Judy and told her the story and she has been wonderful. I told Judy that I would take care of the expenses of the dog if she could take care of him. I have two cats which I was not sure would work well with the dog. My wife came to get the dog from the shop after the weekend and I now had to put the dog in our car and did not know if that would go well. I picked up the chair he was in and placed it by the car door. I then picked the dog up and put him in the car where he settled in fine. The dog greeted my wife with a lick on the face. She had wanted to see my new friend whom I was caring so very much for. She took him to Dr Janis Fullenwider where Judy would pick up the dog after being looked over and bathed. I am praying that this dog will make it. I am missing him and I know it is because he has touched my heart. He has touched everyones heart who has come to know him. All I hear is that he is so sweet. A Pitbull! I have named him Whiskey though Sundance would make more sense since it was under that junk car(a Plymouth Sundance) that we first met and apparently was his first safe haven from where ever he came from. Sundance is a wonderful dog and hope all will pray for his healthy recovery so he will be able to go to a good home - maybe mine if the cats will have him. Holly, as I think about it more, I would like to name him Sundance as it means more. Would you please refer to him by that name as I would appreciate it. I would like to thank ALL of you women for CARING. I wish more men would get their act together and be more compassionate. Hollis K. and Rich M. who work out of the same facilty as myself both agreed that whoever had treated this dog so poorly should be treated the same way. Especially after hearing about the Pitbull ring that was broken up in Apopka, there was no way I would let any one touch this precious animal! I then would become the pitbull! Thank You! ~ Kevin"
I have to admit, Kevin told that story pretty good without my help! What a difference 16 days can make. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Fullenwider, the kind people at Fifi's Dog Groomer, and Judy's volunteers, Sundance, or Whiskey as Judy likes to call him, is now starting to look as beautiful on the outside as we know he is on the inside. And instead of sleeping under a car, he is sleeping on Judy's couch! If you would like to donate toward the extrordinary expenses of Whiskey and our other special pets, please learn how by going to our Donate page and reading about Shadow's Hope. And, as always, thank you for having a heart for rescued pets! Oh, and one more thing - a Pit Bull affectianado e-mailed me to say that Sundance is what is known as "Miami Blue" - he thought Kevin would like to know. Thanks! Enjoy this video of Whiskey playing with Zena!