Workers saved, adopted injured pooch in 2000
By Mandy Locke
The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Copyright 2006 The News and Observer
Saline, a chubby mutt that Selma emergency workers rescued during an ice storm in 2000, died this week after a battle with diabetes.
She was nearly 53 in dog years.
The husky-mix found a home at Selma’s rescue station more than six years ago. On Jan. 19, 2000, two emergency medical technicians spotted the wobbly, shabby dog wandering in the street just as a car smacked into her and sped away. They loaded the pup into their ambulance and rushed her to an animal hospital.
Her diagnosis was worse than bleak. Her pelvis had been crushed, and the veterinarian doubted she’d be able to relieve herself. He urged them to put the puppy to sleep.
But EMS workers Scott Long and Jimmy Oliver were in the business of saving lives and couldn’t imagine giving up on the injured dog, said Cathy Cockrell-Capps, a supervisor for Selma EMS.
A rotating cast of emergency volunteers stayed by the dog’s side for days, feeding her from a can of dog food and carrying her outside to urinate. Once they were convinced she’d survive, the entire department of volunteers took a vote on whether to adopt her. All but two old-timers voted yes.
The crew decided to call her Saline after ticking through a list of their medical supplies. They stashed a bed designed for dogs with orthopedic problems in the corner of the station, where she slept.
By all accounts, Saline was spoiled. In fact, Cockrell-Capps doubts she ever realized she wasn’t human. She rode with the crew in all the Christmas parades and sat near the table at all EMS business meetings.
“If you were eating tacos, she was eating tacos,” Cockrell-Capps said.
Her favorite snack was peanut M&Ms. Saline turned up her nose at the plain kind.
The bad diet eventually caught up with Saline. A veterinarian diagnosed her with hypothyroidism and put her on a rigid battery of medications.
The diabetes slipped up on them all this month, Cockrell-Capps said. After nearly a week at the animal hospital, Selma EMS workers brought her home to die. A crowd of 25 or so sat with her until she passed.
She was buried in front of the station on North Webb Street in a wooden box built just for her, wearing her own Selma EMS sweat shirt.