AR-News: (SC/GA - US) The Perfect Rescue

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

    Web posted Friday, February 20, 2004
    
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Clarabelle struts her stuff at a Jan. 18 dog exhibition at The Mall at 
Shelter Cover. Just 11 days later, her owner found out the 10-year-old basset was 
very sick. 
-Pete Marovich/Carolina Morning News <IMG  SRC="http://www.lowcountrynow.com/images/022004/doglove1.jpg" WIDTH="150" HEIGHT="123" BORDER="0" DATASIZE="5043"><A HREF="http://www.lowcountrynow.com/images/022004/full_doglove1.jpg"> </A>
Donna Calendine gives her friend, Blondie, a belly rub this week. The Sun 
City woman basset-proofed her home with easy-to-clean tile floors. 
-Thomas J. Turney/Carolina Morning News <IMG  SRC="http://www.lowcountrynow.com/images/022004/doglove2.jpg" WIDTH="150" HEIGHT="267" BORDER="0" DATASIZE="5519"><A HREF="http://www.lowcountrynow.com/images/022004/full_doglove2.jpg"> </A>
Blondie jumps up on her owner Donna Calendine when she sees her leash and 
knows she will be going for a walk. 
-Thomas J. Turney/Carolina Morning News 

Lowcountry shelters

Beaufort County Animal Shelter

Hilton Head Humane Association

10 Humane Way

Hilton Head

Jasper County Animal Shelter

404 Carters Mill Road

Morningstar Animal Rescue

Ridgeland (appointment required)

Some shelter animals will be available for adoption at Petsmart in Bluffton. 
There are many rescue organizations dedicated to particular breeds serving 
large areas. From Afghan hounds to Yorkshire terriers, there are homeless hounds 
waiting for a loving owner willing to make a lifelong commitment. Some can be 
found at www.akc.org/
breeds/rescue.cfm

    
The perfect rescue 

SUN CITY: The basset 'belle' of Bailey Lane left big paws to fill in the 
hearts of those who loved her. 

By Stephanie Ingersoll 
Carolina Morning News 

There was something about the sweet old basset hound that made everyone smile.

Maybe it was her long ears, drooping eyes or fat paws. Maybe it was the silly 
bonnet on her head, or the look on her face as she plodded through life at 
the side of the woman she loved. She seemed to be smiling through the hangdog 
features of her breed.

It's hard to say who owned who.

Clarabelle wore the collar around the soft, loose folds of her thick neck. 
She was willing to wear a dress whenever her "master" wanted the dog to look her 
best. She didn't know tricks but stole the show wherever they went.

In return, Donna Calendine's life revolved around her short, hairy best 
friend. The Sun City woman bought an RV so they could travel together. She hitched 
a cart behind her bicycle so Clarabelle could join her for rides. And she 
always kept the basset's water bowl full - regularly adding just the right amount 
of ice.

If Calendine controlled the dog's leash it was Clarabelle who held the 
woman's heartstrings.

Just three years after finding one another late in life, they suddenly had to 
say goodbye on Jan. 29.

That was the day Clarabelle died and Calendine was left to again face life 
alone.

"I always called myself Clarabelle's mom," the Ohio retiree said. "It's like 
losing a family member ... I think you have to be an animal lover to 
understand that."

Love and understanding

What happened next might not make sense to someone who has never signed their 
pet's name to a Christmas card or celebrated their pet's birthday with family 
and friends.

It was something that would make some people roll their eyes and others reach 
for a tissue.

First, the phone calls poured in as word spread that Clarabelle had died. 
Then the flower arrangements began to arrive - some from as far away as Nova 
Scotia. The mailbox was stuffed with cards telling Calendine that her beloved 
companion would be waiting for her outside the gates to heaven on the "Rainbow 
Bridge."

Throughout Sun City, the United States and a couple of other countries, dog 
lovers rallied around a woman some knew well and others not at all.

"With so many of them having dogs, they were putting themselves in my place," 
Calendine said.

Terry and Wayne Smith sent their neighbor a book called "Dog Heaven." They 
live five houses down from Calendine and their golden retriever, Cedar, has his 
very own room and a photo of Clarabelle hanging on his wall.

The basset was a popular pooch on this "dog block" of Sun City, a retirement 
community with more than its share of dog lovers, Wayne Smith said.

"(Clarabelle) attended many of Cedar's parties in her Sunday best," Terry 
Smith said. "She was always the best dressed."

Clarabelle also appeared in costume and out for all kinds of causes - from 
mall exhibitions to familiarize the public with different breeds of dogs to 
fashion shows aimed at raising money for rescue organizations. Her photo has 
appeared three times in two Lowcountry newspapers.

She even has her own Web site - www.clarabellesmom.com.

Clarabelle's legacy

For a rescue dog once abandoned by her owners, Clarabelle had touched many 
lives.

The basset - once called Tuba - was a resident of the Hilton Head Humane 
Association when Calendine spotted her while doing volunteer work at the shelter.

She decided to take her home in November 2000.

"She just appealed to me," Calendine said. "I can't really remember any exact 
thing that really cemented that feeling. Of course, as time went on, we got 
closer and closer."

Owning a basset isn't always easy. She shed so much Calendine decided to 
replace all of her carpeting with tiles. Those long ears require a lot of cleaning 
and Clarabelle needed daily medicine.

But the work was nothing compared to the rewards. In addition to lavishing 
her owner with love, Clarabelle helped Calendine make friends she would 
otherwise never have known.

"The dogs socialize and so do the owners," she said.

Clarabelle first started feeling sick in December but despite trips to an 
animal hospital, her tumor wasn't found until the end of January. The vet showed 
Calendine the X-rays and told her Clarabelle faced a horrible death.

There was nothing Calendine could do but help her die peacefully.

The veterinarian staff pressed one Clarabelle's paws against a piece of wet 
clay as a final keepsake for her owner. The 10-year-old basset had left her 
mark.

When Calendine returned home that night, Clarabelle's things were waiting. 
She packed up all her unused food and sent it to a local shelter.

But her home felt empty without a dog.

"It didn't take me long to realize that although I'll never replace the love 
I had for Clarabelle, I wanted to have another animal," she said.

It's a testimony to Clarabelle's personality that Calendine wanted another 
rescue dog - a girl basset. She just had to find the right one.

Sweethearts

It is perhaps fitting that a new love waddled into Calendine's life on 
Valentine's Day.

Her name is Blondie and like Calendine - who once worked for the Department 
of Defense - she is retired. Her owners had dumped her and a male basset after 
years of breeding puppies. Volunteers at Basset Hound Rescue of Georgia took 
her in and kept her in foster care for a year while waiting for the right owner 
to find her.

Adopting cute puppies is pretty easy, but older dogs often have a tough time 
finding homes. Blondie needed one without children or other dogs. Unlike 
Clarabelle, she isn't an overly social dog and she sometimes growls before making 
friends with strangers.

Calendine was ready to give Blondie a chance.

They met Saturday, at a Cracker Barrel outside Macon, Ga., in Calendine's RV. 
The Sun City woman wanted to make the Georgia pooch as comfortable as 
possible for the visit. When she left a little while later, Blondie went along for 
the ride.

The basset hound is now getting used to her new home and neighbors - who plan 
to host a coming out party soon at Cedar's place.

Blondie trotted along Bailey Lane this week at a surprisingly brisk pace for 
a 6-year-old basset. Her belly swayed beneath her, nearly dragging the ground. 
Calendine walked beside her, wearing a stocking cap and swinging a poop bag.

She still misses Clarabelle and knows it will take awhile to make the same 
connection with a new dog. But there's time.

Blondie doesn't have to worry about raising puppies ever again. She can relax 
now and let her new "mother" give her a better life.

And just maybe she'll rescue Calendine's heart in return.

Reporter Stephanie Ingersoll can be reached at 837-5255, ext. 110, or 
Stephanie at lowcountrynow.com
    
    
    
    
    
  
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