My Beloved Samba

I adopted Samba at age 5 in 2000 from the Scottsville Animal Shelter outside of Rochester, NY. She was very shy at first and scarred inside and out. Abused for years by her drug-dealing owners it took some time for us to truly bond. She never got over her fear of men though.

She lived with me for 9 years and we were rarely separated. From the first she was an all-around, well behaved dog. We took long walks every day until my arthritis forced me to fence in my yard and let her have the run of the background which she enjoyed and "kept watch" over. It was amazing how well she knew me and when I was feeling down.

She saved my life and the life of my best friend one wintry day when we were on the road to a friend's house. The roads were icy and just before we surely would have collided head-on with a truck that had spun out of control and crossed the median, she started fussing and whining from the back seat. I slowed down and started to pull over when we saw the truck loose it and end up in snow bank right in front of us. If I hadn't slowed down when I did, we would have crashed no doubt about it!!

Earlier this year I had the very difficult and sad decision to put her down. She was not well and, although I had already spent thousands on vet bills, I knew she would not have wanted to go through more suffering. I kept some of her fur in a locket I always wear and her ashes have a special shelf in my house.

She is still always with me and I love her.

Debby
Rochester, NY