| This is my new 6 month old puppy. He is an Australian Cattle Dog and German Shepard mix with an incredible story. During the Rodeo and Chadeski fires here in Arizona, the inhabitants of the Apache Indian Reservation towns of Hon-dah and McNealy were ordered to evacuate, leaving behind thousands of animals to fend for themselves. The Arizona Animal Welfare League was asked to set up an emergency evacuation shelter to help the animals. They'd been without food or water for over a week. During the first day we were able to rescue many sick and lame animals, including this little puppy's mother and 3 siblings. However, because he was too scared and too shy, he kept running under the house and would not come out while we were around. For the next 3 days, the Military Police, the National Guard, and I tried repeatedly to snare him without success. On the 4th day, as we were packing up to leave, we decided to make one last attempt, and were finally able to capture him. It was a great day, but it was also a very, very sad day as well. I found out that Maddie, my dog of 16 years, passed away that morning. It was on the drive back to Phoenix with the rescued dogs in tow, that I knew there was a reason this all happened. I adopted the little pup several weeks later and named him Apache Fuego (spanish for fire). I am happy to say that Apache is doing incredibly well, is no longer shy, and is being spoiled beyond description. |
