The Ballad of Kit and Rachel

Many of you know of this story, but I wrote it up for Voices, and it was published today.

Big Sur loves its dogs. Lost dogs have become sort of a specialty of mine on my blog. I am a sucker. Whether they are born here, brought here or dumped here, all are welcome. No bad dogs, sometimes bad owners. This is the story of three such dogs, but mostly the last of the three.

Feb. 4, 2013, was a warm, gorgeous winter day. I got up and opened the door to let out the four dogs I already owned. I left the door open, so I could go back to bed for a bit. Shortly after I closed my eyes, I heard the clinking of toenails on the hardwood floor. I rolled over to see which dog it was. “Oh, my! Who are you, Missy.” It was a stranger, making herself at home. I didn’t even know the sex at that point, but that is how she got her name. She is a smart border collie, probably McNab. She was skin and bones and covered with ticks. I took her into the bathroom, where I planned to keep her isolated from my own dogs until I could get her to the vet and have her checked, which I did. Seven years later, she never willingly leaves my side.

On Nov. 21, 2019, Elsa Rivera posted a photo of a German shepherd puppy that a couple had abandoned at the Loma Vista gas station. My other four dogs were all gone by then, having lived 14 to 16 years each, and Missy the Mystery Dog needed a high energy playmate that wasn’t me. That night, Lady was ours. That was two months ago, and today she is housebroken, knows basic commands and is highly entertaining.

Then, on Jan. 7 I got one of those emails I get way too often about a dog wandering the highway. No photo, not much of a description (looks like a fox, but not). Not much I could do with that. She was spotted near the vista point at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

A couple days later, at the same vista point, Jon Knight spotted her and he and several state park rangers tried to capture this gal, but were unsuccessful. She was scared to death and ran away. There were sightings reported to me on and off, but no photos until Jan. 15. Rachel Fann spotted her near her place, three miles south of JP Burns.

You can read the rest of the story at https://voicesofmontereybay.org/2020/02/13/the-ballad-of-kit-and-rachel/

Hint: It has a happy ending.