Seeing-Eye Person Will Take Care of Blind Dog
www.belleville.com
BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK
January 18, 2005, GREENVILLE, ILLINOIS-- In just a few months, Phoebe the Shar-Pei's luck has gone from miserable to fantastic. In September, the blind, 8-year-old dog was found chained to a tree behind a house in Greenville, where humane society workers said it had survived for two weeks on rain water and bugs. It was rescued by members of the Bond County Humane Society, including Dennis Hundsdorfer, a volunteer for the group.
Hundsdorfer said that while Greenville Police investigated the animal's neglect, no charges were brought.
But under the society's care, Phoebe's luck got better -- much better. She was treated for malnutrition, heart worms and a neck wound caused by the chain.
And then she caught the attention of a potential new owner, one that any blind Shar-Pei would certainly want: the owner of a blind Shar-Pei. "This is a small miracle for Phoebe because the situation couldn't have been better if we had created it for her," Hundsdorfer said.
On Sunday night, Phoebe was introduced to Wrinkles, another 8-year-old, sightless, female Shar-Pei owned by Angela Priest of Umatilla, Fla. The meeting, in a motel room in Macon, Ga., came about because Hundsdorfer, whose wife, Rachel, is the president of the humane society, had vowed that Phoebe would get a better life.
After learning from the Internet that Priest was looking for a blind Shar-Pei to be a companion to Wrinkles, the Hundsdorfers packed up Phoebe on Sunday morning and began the 10-hour drive to Macon. Priest was waiting for them.
After a night of getting used to Wrinkles and vice versa, Phoebe was packed off in Priest's SUV. Destination: a spacious home in sunny central Florida just north of Orlando.
