Tammi, a lovely 9-month-old dog, arrived at the San Antonio Humane Society last month. She had been hit by a car with many injuries. Doctors Operated on her immediately. The operation saved her life, but left her crippled（瘸）in one leg. Under the care of the Humane Society, she was recovering from the injuries. However, the scar（疤痕）in her heart was always there. For most of the time. she was shy and alone, staying away from other dogs. The Humane Society worked around the clock to find Tammi a forever home. They wanted the sweet dog to be adopted（领养）as soon as possible.

Living in the same city. 19 miles away from San Antonio Humane Society was the Matthews. Bad luck struck the couple two months ago when their 7-year-old son was knocked down by a passing car on his way home. He died before he could be helped. This accident filled them with sadness every day.

It was then that the San Antonio Humane Society contacted them. They advised the couple to think about adopting a dog, which might put smile back on their faces. At first the couple disagreed with this idea but after their explanation the couple decided to give it a try the next day. That was how the Matthews first met Tammi.

Surprisingly, seeing the couple, Tammi stood up and walked over to them slowly

Finding a Friend

Two years ago, a dog ran into my yard. When he started to wag his tail and bark, I thought he was nice. But when my hand got close to his forehead, he lashed out and bit me. The next day when I woke up I was lying in the hospital bed with stitches on my right arm from my wrist to my elbow. Even though the dog had to go to the pound, the fear and the scares he gave never left.

You can imagine with my fear of something like this I was an easy target for bullies. I didn’t want to become friends with anyone at my school.

I knew the day would come when the teasing would become too much and I wouldn't be able to take it any longer. On a Friday it happened and I ended up running to my house instead of taking the bus home. I went straight into the woods. I listened to the hush of the trees and admired the beauty of the falling leaves, letting all the frustration go.

Suddenly I heard whimpering (呜咽). I saw the last thing I wanted to see, a dog. From instinct I stood up, legs tense, but the dog didn’t move. Even with my fear of dogs, a part of me wanted to go and comfort the wounded dog. Eventually my heart overpowered my conscience. Carefully I reached out my right hand. My scar started to tingle, remembering the last time I was this close to a dog. Then, before I was ready the dog stretched out his neck, pushing his head into my hand. At that point I knew we needed each other.

The dog happily followed me home. Even after a few days with Scruffy (which is what I chose to name him), the statement “Dogs are man's best friend” was proven true.

One day, I was taking him for a walk when I noticed a sign on a telephone pole. The sign read:

Lost Dog

Medium height, brown eyes, male, scruffy light brown hair. Answers to the name Copper. If seen, please call me at 544-0222, or bring him to my house at 18 Sugar Hill Road, Easton, NH.

Thank you,

Annie Samson

Next to the writing there was a picture of Copper.

Undoubtedly, that was a picture of the dog sitting right beside me.

The next day I brought Copper to Easton to find his owner.

Every year, Vargas and her dad go hiking. This summer’s trip was up Table Rock in the Grand Tentons in early December.

Vargas was just below the 11, 000-foot peak with her dad waiting about a mile down the trail when she met an injured English springer spaniel. She couldn’t find the dog’s owner and she figured it would be easier for her to carry the dog to safety.

“I had to crawl under him to get him up on my shoulders,”said Vargas, a single mother of three children from Idaho. “I felt the difficulty of it right away. I never felt 55 pounds like that before.”

Her dad, Ted Kasper, who took some photos when he saw his daughter coming down the trail with a dog on her shoulders. Dad laughed and said, “Isn’t this hike hard enough? You must carry a dog too?” Vargas recalled. “My dad made me laugh. He is such a great man.”

That sense of humor helped Vargas get through the difficulty of carrying the heavy dog down the trail. The hiking was hard and nearly unbearable at times. Every time Vargas put him down so she could rest, it was difficult. And every time she got down on her knees to put her head under his belly and tried to use neck and body strength to lift him, she was painful and it was hard.

“I thought we would see people on the trail on the way down to help. But that wasn’t the case.” she said. Kasper offered to run down the trail and try to find help, but Vargas didn’t want to be left alone.

About halfway down the trail, Vargas thought she might not be able to continue. At the time, it started to rain. “The thought of stopping crossed my mind once. My legs hurt and were shaking. My dad’s jokes made me laugh and it gave me energy. And feeling the dog’s breath growing faint was what encouraged me to continue,” she said.

Finally hiking six miles and reaching the bottom of the trail, Vargas found a very small note that said, “Lost dog named Boomer, call this number.”

Vargas called the number immediately.

However, Boomer’s owner was in another city far away and couldn’t take him back.