Many of you know that Michele’s beloved dog, Indy, was hit by a car and passed away on Monday. Our family has been shocked and saddened by the events that took place during the last 12 days of her life.
At this difficult time I cant help but think back of all the special times we’ve had with that little dog…
I remember when Michele and I went to Riverbank to buy her. I was pregnant with Thomas and we both thought that every little boy needed a dog. We chose a Boston Terrier because of the fond memories we have of our childhood dog, Chelsea. At the breeder we chose the smallest puppy, a girl, with one blue eye and a crooked little tail. We would eventually name her Indigo, a tribute to her one blue eye, but she would always be known as “Indy”.
Trying out Thomas’ stroller when she was sooo tiny.
When Thomas was born she was his constant companion. she would lay by his crib while he was sleeping or snuggle next to you while you held him, she was already a great friend to him!
We will always remember how Indy flunked out of puppy school and was asked not to return!
Who can forget when she was chasing the lawn edger and almost got her toe cut off! That was an expensive vet bill!
When Noelle was born Indy found a true friend! Since she was tiny Noelle has LOVED Indy!
I will admit that Indy did not always love this attention but she was always patient and gentle with Noelle.
Last February Indy ran away from home when she was scared by a tree trimmer at Michele’s house. You can read about that ordeal here. Indy made it home safe and sound about a week later.
This is Indy with her socks on recovering from her infected pads after running away. Too cute!
Indy was a great friend and companion to Michele, who I know misses her so much. We all do.
On New Year’s Eve Indy ran out of my Dad’s garage and was gone before we could even see which way she went. The dog hunt was on immediately! We had to find that dog before Michele and Thomas came home from Monterey. Dad went out looking, Mom and Chris went out looking, Dave, Noelle and I went out looking, even Wanda and her mom helped with the search. We hung up almost 200 posters with her picture asking people to call us if they had seen her. We learned from the last time she was gone that she could be anywhere so we went to every surrounding neighborhood and some that were pretty far away. No one had seen her and we didn’t get any phone calls.
Michele and Thomas came home on Saturday, the 2nd, and I had to deliver the awful news. Of course, Michele was heart broken. After crying a bit her first words were “ I guess I have to go out and find her.” So, off she and I went to hang up more signs and check the pound. Still nothing. We couldn’t believe it. Indy had her tags on plus she was wearing a tag saying that she had a microchip. If someone had her or had seen her they should have been calling us. Where could she be?
A break came in the case on the 3rd when the owner of a local convenience store told us that one of his frequent customers brought Indy in and said he had found her. We began waiting for the call from the person who found her but it never came. We continued to look for her and posted a reward for $300 in the store. We thought anybody that would steal somebody’s dog might chose money over the dog but no call came. We kept scouring the area near the store hoping we might see the man with Indy but had no luck.
Another break came on the 10th when the owner of the convenience store was able to tell us the name of the court the man lived in. At that point we were so excited! We would knock on every door if we had to or steal our own dog back out of someone’s back yard! Monday the 11th, Dave and I drove through the court several times on our way home from work and stopped and talked with a man who said he hadn’t seen her. We looked carefully under each fence to see if her little head was poking out but we didn’t see anything. We even caught our friend Beth driving through looking for Indy!
Later that day Dad drove through the court and stopped and ate his lunch on the corner. He saw a man riding a bike, which we were told this man did, but lost him in traffic.
Our good friend and neighbor, and dog lover, Rob who is a Sheriff’s K-9 Deputy, drove around the court several times that day and talked with a few neighbors. He spent quite a lot of time there. But still no leads.
I guess we didn’t see the man but he knew we were there because he got scared and let Indy loose sometime that afternoon. Instead of calling us or dropping her off at a vet or the pound he just let her loose on the street! What a Jerk!!!!!!!!
The calls started coming a little after 5:00 pm. A lady had seen Indy running near Sandman Park. She said she looked scared. The hunt was on again! Michele, Dad, Mom, and Chris were out looking everywhere but Indy was no where to be found.
Then around 6:15 the dreaded call came. A man called Michele’s cell phone to say that Indy had been hit by a car at the corner of Lower Sacramento Road and Hammer Lane. What? How on earth did she get so far? They rushed to the scene to see Indy laying in the street. The nice man and his wife had parked their car to block traffic so she wouldn’t be hit again and another man was helping to direct traffic.
Things didn’t look good. Indy was badly injured. Dave and I got the call as I was on my way to sign Thomas up for T-Ball. Michele was crying and crying. What would we do? It was late and all the vets were closed. Once again I called on our awesome neighbors to find out the location of the emergency vet. They rushed Indy there. I met them there a few minutes later.
As we already knew the situation was critical. They said they were not sure if she would make it through the night. I can’t explain how it felt to see our little dog laying there on the table. All we could do was cry and whisper in her ear that we loved her. The vet sent us home so they could get to work with the promise they would update us soon.
We got one update about 8:00. She would loose her eye, which we already knew. That was cosmetic and the least of our worries. She had a pneumo and might need a chest tube. She had lots of swelling on her brain and it was getting worse, not a good sign.
Then, around 9:00, the call came that Indy had passed away.
Mom and Chris took Michele to see her.
I can’t put into words what our family is feeling right now. What an awful person that man was to take our dog for his own and then to just put her out on the street when he was afraid of getting into trouble. I wish he could know the devastation he has caused. On the other hand I am overwhelmed at the goodness of people as well. The first lady that spotted Indy called us several more times that night to check on her. The people that saw her get hit by the car called the vet 4 times that night and tried so hard to comfort Michele at the scene. The people at the vet were so nice and helpful and I am so glad that they were there to comfort and care for Indy in the last hours of her life.
This incident has changed all of our lives
We will all miss Indy terribly but on some level are glad to have some closure, Indy’s life came to an abrupt end far too early but at least we don’t have to spend the rest of our lives wondering what happened to her. It would be awful to have to wonder if she was out in the cold or being mistreated by that awful man!
Instead Indy went to the farm to play with Buttons, Chelsea, Buddy, and Taffy.
Has turned into this big boy!!
I cant believe five years have passed so quickly. I have learned so much in the years of being Thomas’ mommy. He is such a special little boy and has already touched so many lives and hearts. I can’t wait to see who he becomes as he gets older. That said this birthday seems a little bittersweet to me. I am so excited at the new experiences this year will bring, T-ball and Kindergarten, new friends, but at the same time I’m a little sad that my baby REALLY isn’t a baby anymore, he’s not even a toddler, and soon won’t even be a preschooler, he’s a boy!
