Sasha
Sasha’s Long Road Home
Liz Zelandais, a volunteer with ASPCA grant recipient the Dane County Humane Society, shared with us this moving story of a dog who stopped at nothing to be with her family:
Sasha, a stately Doberman/Shepherd mix with lovely manners and the desire to please, was adopted from the Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) in 2005. But six years later, Sasha was returned, and once again she became part of the DCHS family, but it wasn’t her family. Lying in her cage she was utterly despondent.
When Stephanie Schultz, DCHS spay/neuter program coordinator, saw Sasha’s sorrow, she decided to foster this sweet dog that “just wanted to not be in a loud, crazy place.” Sasha joined Stephanie, her boyfriend Dave, and their beagle Maggie at their Madison home.
Sasha was slow to open up and continued to exude sadness. But gradually she started becoming more comfortable, and when a few days later she even wagged her tail, it was a major victory. Over a period of months, Sasha became part of the family. Stephanie and Dave discussed adopting her, but they suspected Sasha would prefer to be an only dog.
Several weeks later, a woman named Marcia, who had no other dogs, saw Sasha on the adoption website, and felt an immediate connection when they met. Marcia adopted Sasha and drove her to what was supposed to be her new home. Sasha had other ideas. When Marcia opened the car door and reached for Sasha’s leash, Sasha bolted.
Marcia and Stephanie drove for hours searching for Sasha. Despite notifying all the appropriate places, posting flyers, asking around neighborhoods and searching almost daily, Sasha was not found.
Thirteen days later, Stephanie awoke to the startling effect of an intruder at her window. She could see that two paws on the ledge and a face staring in the window: Sasha’s. Sasha was a little thinner and had a few marks on her legs, but was in remarkably good shape for the time she had been gone and the distance of at least five urban miles she had traversed.
Inside, Sasha inhaled an entire bowl of water, took possession of her spot on the couch, and exhaled with a deep sigh. Then she slept.
Marcia, Stephanie and Dave agreed that Sasha had clearly indicated that her forever home was with them. In the perfect postscript to this story, a local rescue had a German Shepherd, Jezebel, that needed a foster home with no other dogs. Jezebel is so lucky to be getting Marcia as her new foster mom.
