Although this is the official start of my blog, I want to flash back to December 18, 2001. The day I rescued my dog "LUCKY". That was the day that changed both our lives.I was fostering a dog that had found a loving home. I took him to the shelter in Brooklyn to drop him off so that he could be picked up by his new parents. As I walked down the long and cold hallway to leave, a veterinarian's assistant was walking a beautiful brindle American Pit Bull Terrier in the other direction and she gave me this look....a kind of one last desperation look. I asked the assistant where she was taking this dog and she said that she was on her way to be euthanized. She was dead-dog walkin'.
"What's wrong with her" I asked.
"Nothing at all. She's a sweetheart. She had a litter in here and all of her pups have found homes but we can only hold her for a certain amount of time then we have to put her down".
"That's crazy. Give me the dog, I'll find her a home."
"It's too late" said the assistant. "The Vet is in the room down the hall and he doesn't like to be kept waiting".
"Give - me - the - dog. I'll talk to the Vet myself."
I walked into the room with the dog and the Vet was standing next to a machine with a large needle and straps, without looking up he snapped, "What took you so long?" "I'm late for a lunch date!"
"Did you ever try to eat a sandwich with a fractured jaw?" I exclaimed.
"Who are you?" asked the Pro Vet.
"I'm the guy who is taking this dog out of here to find her a home, that's who. If you refuse....well then I will have no other choice but to turn this office upside down.....With you in it!" I was furious but I managed to stay calmly creepy-cool to the point where I almost scared myself. We stood there looking at each other for more than a half of a minute, not saying a word. I didn't have to, my eyes said it all. The dog, two minutes ago, head down about to meet her fate was now sitting next to me, head up, chest high in the sky with a big smile on her face, almost laughing at the Vet...mocking him - like she knew what I have just said. Finally the Pro Vet spoke up........"You should name that dog Lucky".
"You are the lucky one!" I said and we left.
As I packed "Lucky" into my Jeep, she crawled onto my lap and gently pressed the side of her face against mine and kept it there, motionless for what seemed like a long time.
"You're with me now", I told her as we drove off. She had the biggest smile I had ever seen on a dog as she looked out onto the world from the Jeep window. Happy as happy can get.
People always tell me she's a lucky dog but they're wrong......I am the lucky one.
Christo and Lucky, Christmas Day, 2001
Central Park Dog Run, NYC.
