Paying it forward · Shoot the Dog, Volume Four, page 205
Roo and Jedda: the rescue who became a blood donor
Some rescue stories end when the dog comes home. Roo's was only getting started.
Roo is a Ridgeback mix, and her page in Shoot the Dog, Volume Four calls her "an incredibly special girl with an inspirational story". When she was rescued as a tiny baby she had Parvo, "but survived!"
Two patients, one recovery
What happened next is the part we keep coming back to. Roo's adopted human had been hurt too:
Her adopted human had a horse accident which resulted in an injury and anxiety… well Roo had anxiety and injuries from a rough start too!
"Over many months with a lot of love and hard work the pair went from being non-functional to living normal, happy lives." Each of them, it seems, was exactly what the other needed.
Paying it forward
Once they were well, the two of them decided to give something back. In the page's words, "they decided to pay it forward to others out in the world, so Roo became a blood donor!"
Then came news about Roo's own mother. She had been rescued, and she was pregnant. "When Roo heard about this, she just knew she had to convince her human to take in one of her baby half-sisters, cue Jedda!"
Jedda has plans of her own. "When Jedda is big enough, she wants to save lives through blood donation too."
Off duty
When they are not saving lives, the page says, the girls enjoy "wrestling, laying in the sun, hogging their human's bed, squeaking toys, running around the farm, and playing with their extended dog family."
In the portrait above they pose side by side in front of a graffiti wall, one pink collar and one patterned, looking like a pair who know exactly what they have done.
Rescue at the heart of it
Every family photographed for Shoot the Dog paid a $100 participation fee, and all of it went directly to an animal rescue group. Where the $100 went tells that story, and names the five rescues.