“Nirvana is not a place where there is no suffering. Nirvana is a place where suffering is met with compassion”

-Thich Nhat Hanh

Just got back from another international dog rescue.  As always, exhausted, exhilarated, and more than anything just plain grateful to be able to save the lives of such vibrant and gracious souls.

The trip is, by some standards, a bit  grueling. Hour after hour on the open road, with little time to stop and rest.  Filling up the van on the drive down with donations of dog food and medical supplies involves a great deal of lifting, packing, schlepping and rearranging. Unloading. Setting up cages….all in the rain. Loading up dogs.  Potty breaks at rest stops with our enthusiastic meximutt copilots and lots of inquiring onlookers.

Mud. Rain. Sleep deprivation.  Gas station coffee.  1200 miles of fairly desolate highway.  44 muddy paws.

It all adds up to the miracle of 11 dogs alive despite unimaginable odds, on their way to a way of life they have never even dreamt of.

 Can’t honestly think of a better way to spend my time.

They even did a news piece about our rescue that you can see here: http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/san-rafael-group-returns-from-juarez-mexico-with/vFqcT/

I returned home to find a letter in the mail with the picture featured here. It is a photo of a dog named Adelita .

Words can’t describe the joy this picture brings me.  Adelita is a dog we rescued back in 2004 after my first visit to an animal control center in Juarez, Mexico {read more about that visit here: http://cwob.org/eutahistory.html] .

Adelita is one of the 12 dogs saved that day.

That experience haunts me to this date. I found Adelita in the back of an animal control truck that had clearly been sitting in the facility for a few days.  In the back of the truck there was a pile of dead dogs, along with a few live ones sitting as far away as possible to the side. I reached in to grab the live dogs out and saw Adelita moving from beneath the pile.

I carefully pulled her out from below the pile. She was so thin, barely conscious, and covered in ticks and mange.

Adelita was given immediate medical attention and then I brought her home with me for a few months while she recuperated physically and emotionally. We bonded very quickly and soon she was at my heels 24 hours a day. I watched her blossom from a frightened, weak, uncertain little spirit into a trusting, carefree, loving soul.

Adelita was then adopted out to a fantastic home by our wonderful rescue partner Small Dog Rescue. She has lived in Marin with her family for the past 7 years. She is absolutely adored. The poster child for the pampered pooch.

For me to see this image of her seven years later, held by Santa, adorned in her fancy jingle bell sweater and then to think of the image of her when I found her…it is simply unbelievable.

She is, just like every singe one of our rescue dogs , the living, breathing embodiment of hope winning out over despair, joy and life  overcoming suffering and pain.

She is why I do what I do and why Compassion without Borders exists.  It is that urgent need to help animals just like her who are suffering  right now and in desperate  need of rescue coupled with the all-consuming desire to prevent them from ever even being in that position in the first place.

 Prevention +Education+Rescue = Compassion