Tootsie

No, I'm not talking about the film at all. I was just reading Terri's latest tail, and it triggered off memories from long ago. My older son must have been around nine or ten. He came home in tears after playing one evening, because one of the stray dogs in the neighbourhood had been in an accident, and seemed to be half paralysed. She had probably been struck by a scooter, and seemed to have a spinal injury, as she was only able to drag her hind legs along. He wished that we had a gun and could put her out of her misery. He wanted to call the SPCA, but I don't think there was a satisfactory response. We were feeling as helpless and miserable as the poor dog was, but our son was not one to give up.
He didn't want the poor animal to starve, so for weeks on end he would give her bread and milk both in the morning before going to school, and in the evening as well. Since she seemed so broken, so " tooti-phooti" in Hindi, she was named Tootsie. At times we wondered if the boy was prolonging her agony by keeping her alive. Tootsie lived in the park next to ours, a few hundred yards away from our house. Not only did she stay alive, she slowly and steadily recovered. I remember my son coming home completely and utterly overjoyed when he found that Tootsie was able to use her hind legs a bit. Slowly and steadily she did recover fully, and the next spring she had delivered a litter of healthy puppies.
One little boy with a compassionate heart, one stray brown dog with a fighting spirit.
It feels good to remember them both!