Saving Sadie

Joal Derse Dauer was someone who did a lot of volunteering.  She also loved animals.  One day she was delivering sheets and blankets to a local animal shelter and saw this dog who was dying.  She had been shot in the head twice after giving birth and she had been left in the woods to die.  She was in a cage and would be put down the next day.  Somehow the dog looked at Joal and there was a connection.  Joal didn't feel the dog's last day should be in a cold cage with nobody to love her.  She also felt the dog deserved a chance to live and so she took her home to take her to a vet.

Joal already had a dog and two cats and was not in the market for adopting a new dog, but as she began to work with Sadie (whom nobody thought could survive) they developed a close relationship and despite the incredible work and cost ($7,000/week!) Joal decided to keep her and with a team she began to work with her, determined to have her walk again.  Two years later, Sadie had made great progress, though still was not walking, but in the process she had become a word-wide phenomenon, with radio and TV interviews, appearances locally, an internet site where people could send donations.  The story is amazing, as are  the photographs.  

I do wish the book were longer, though.  When I checked Sadie's web site, I learned two things -- You Tube videos show her walking (though the book does not describe how that happened) and it also shows that she died, though I don't know how.  I see in reviews on GoodRead people are saying they intend to follow her...apparently they don't know she is gone.

It was a good read, it was a special story, but there should have been more.