Frequent readers of this blog will know that things happen on State Highway 3 in Piopio, we often have people arrive at the gate at Struan Farm needing help of some sort.
This time it was on Christmas Day. A man drove up, asking if we'd lost our dog, saying that he'd picked up a dog running down the road who hopped straight into his car. I immediately thought: Clifford!!! But no, it wasn't Clifford, rather a little lost fox terrier.
The man was heading on to Auckland, and it seemed the dog belonged in the area, so we promised to try to find her owner after the holiday. There had been an accident the day before nearby, we wondered if perhaps she belonged to one of the vehicle owners involved. She had a collar and her own little polar fleece jacket, after all.
So "Pixie" settled into Struan Farm, briefly:
We needed to keep her tied up most of the time because she kept running for the road, running FAST toward the road. A trip to the vet on Monday established that she wasn't micro-chipped, and about a year old in good health. I purchased some "little dog" food, although she seemed to prefer freshly cooked meat. She also really wanted to go into the house rather than sleep outside on a blanket. So she had been well looked after, if untrained and somewhat spoiled. She liked to hop up on John's lap.
Calls to Animal Control, the SPCA and the police determined ultimately that this highly strung little dog most likely was dumped on the side of the road to fend for herself. But we couldn't keep her at Struan Farm being so close to the main road. So Karen was delegated to find her a good home, also to put the word out to make sure someone hadn't lost her. I was advised by the vet that Animal Control would euthanise her after a week if the owners didn't appear, not something I was going to let happen either way.
Yes, this story has a happy ending. Pixie, now re-named Trixie, has a loving home in Piopio, not far up the road. She's been adopted and is running around on a farm off the main road. And life is back to normal at Struan Farm.
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