GRANTS, N.M. - I read in the Cibola Citizen about a week ago about our local animal shelter closing its doors due to new arrivals as it is in overload. I appreciate them and what they do for animals; they are great.
Evelyn and I are adoptive parents for our fur baby Duke.
Here goes: About 20 years ago, give or take, we had a min-pin Chihuahua mix that we got from a friend near Petro in Milan. Someone had dropped him off at the truck- stop and a little girl took him home. The girl’s mom said they couldn’t keep him so they gave him to a friend nearby. I visited the friend often and noticed the small fellow in a large doghouse. It was winter and cold. A nearby lady threw a blanket over the fence and it was placed in the dog’s house. The dog was warmer, but it was still winter. I told my wife Evelyn about him and we decided to adopt him. We named him Rocky… perhaps because he was a fighter! We had him for about 10 years and his kidneys eventually failed and we had to have him put to sleep. There was no cure.
We were lonely for our little friend and decided to adopt another. I had looked at the Albuquerque west side shelter and noticed that they had 3 min- pin mix dogs up for adoption. We decided to drive over and perhaps bring one home. We picked up our five year old granddaughter Isabella to go with us. The first pup they brought to the bonding area looked so much like Rocky that I knew it wouldn’t work, as he was not Rocky. The next one was a dark tan one and he was skiddish and trembling about being in this open area. We were told that he is the most picked on dog in his cage area. He was trembling as we picked him up to cuddle. His name was Walter. We passed him around and decided to give him a forever home. As it was my birthday, there was no adoption fee.
We got in the car to take him home when Evelyn stated that she didn’t care for the name Walter for this pet, and as she is a John Wayne fan, this new addition to the family is going to be Duke! Then five year old Isabella asked me: “Papa?’ I replied: “what honey?” She continued: “does he have a middle name?’ I immediately responded: “yes he does…. It’s Marie, just like yours!” She then said: “That’s nice Papa, I love it!” We still have him almost 12 years later now. His hearing is failing as well as his eye-sight. But he still cuddles with us on our bed at night! Our little adopted blessing DUKE MARIE!