There are some animals that come into your life and never really leave you. Stevie was one of those.
The Day Stevie Arrived
It was 2012, and I was working as a vet over in Broome, in Western Australia. One day a ranger from the local Aboriginal community came into the clinic carrying the tiniest little dog I think I’d ever seen. She was only about six weeks old, she’d been attacked by another dog, and she was so badly hurt she could barely move. My heart just went out to her.
Giving Her A Chance
The hard truth with little pups like Stevie is that they don’t have anyone. No owner, no one to cover the cost of caring for them, and often no one willing to give them a chance at all. But there was something about this one. I looked at her lying there, still fighting, and I just knew she wanted to live. So I couldn’t not try. We got her onto a drip, started her on pain relief and antibiotics and everything else she needed, and then we waited to see if she had it in her to pull through. And she did, with plenty of attitude too.
She wasn’t quite out of the woods though. The attack had left her with a nerve injury to her front leg, and she couldn’t use it at all. It would just flop, with no weight going through it. We honestly weren’t in a position to take on another dog, Broome was only ever meant to be a temporary home for us, but I couldn’t bring myself to give up on her. So I made up my mind to get her right and find her the perfect home when she was ready.
And so the two of us got to work. I splinted her leg and did her physio, and we’d go swimming together in the warm Broome ocean with her little lifejacket on. Slowly, day by day, she got stronger. She’d come into work with me every morning and sit up at reception keeping the clinic cat company, like she owned the place. She started using the leg with the splint on, and then one day I took the splint off. She ran straight over to me on all four legs and into my arms, and well, that was it. She had me completely.
She Was Already Home
She never came fully right, and she carried a little limp for the rest of her life, but you’d never have known it to watch her go. She was every bit as fast and as strong as any other dog, with those great big ears and a proper chihuahua attitude to match. We tried, when the time came, to find her a home of her own. We even went to adopt her out. But the right person never quite turned up, and a few months later we realised what we probably should have known all along, that she was already home. She was our girl, and that was that.
From Broome To New Zealand
She came back to New Zealand with us and our black Labrador, Cooper, and she had a wonderful life by our side, right up until we lost her five years ago in a tragic accident. We never did find out what breed she was. To us it never mattered. She was simply our Broome Special.
Her Forever Place In The Vetpost Family
We’ve always known Stevie had a story worth telling, and a place in the Vetpost family that was hers alone. So we’re bringing her home one more time, and we couldn’t be prouder to introduce her as our Vetpost Ambassador.
Welcome home, wee girl.
Dr Becs xx
