No Strangers In Louisville
It is a well-known fact that Louisvillians are among the most giving, generous people on the face of the earth. It is also a fact that we make friends and keep them for a lifetime, as is evidenced by the number of grade-school reunions listed on Facebook every week.
It’s easy to develop a social network in Louisville because of the openness and familiarity of this small town within a big city, and strangers are never strangers for long once they connect with this hometown we’re proud to claim. How many people we have never met are listed on our Facebook pages as “friends,” and how much do we interact with those who are willing to share their lives online without so much as a handshake of introduction? It is obvious that people meet for a reason, and although there may not be a ready explanation for certain crossings of paths, or intersections of lives, the results usually reveal themselves in time.
Our big-hearted approach and the intricate, coincidental enmeshment of our daily routines have never been more on display than in the past month, when Louisville rallied to search for, rescue and recover a humble, missing coonhound – Emma Lou, now widely known as “The Coonhound That Could!” This is the story of a group of complete strangers and a wandering hunting dog whose lives inexplicably melded one morning. Some consider the following a random sequence of events, but many of us favor the explanation of a “no-accident” series of divine interventions at play, to teach us all a lesson about paying it forward and uniting for a worthy cause.
(Photo: courtesy Homestretch Hounds)
Having recently lost her beloved 15 year old coonhound, Maggie May, retail entrepreneur Terri Cardwell was searching the adoption web for the oldest hound available, in hopes of providing it a loving home in the end-stage of life. One particularly pitiful tri-colored hound caught Terri’s eye. Although weak and underweight, “Grandma” bore a remarkable resemblance to the young Maggie, who’d been rescued years before with her two pups from a roadside ditch in Indiana. Maggie had spent a long and happy life with Terri and her other dogs before passing away in September 2010, and her loss was profound to her mother. It would take a special coonhound to follow in Maggie May’s big paw prints.
It was simply meant to be! Homestretch Hounds adopted “Grandma” to Terri on a sunny January day in 2011, and the newly christened “Emma Lou” came home to Louisville and a life the likes of which she could only have dreamed in her previous circumstances. After a week at St. Matthews Animal Clinic expelling the “evil thing” (giardia) that Terri’s personal veterinarian Dr. Mike Schardein diagnosed inside her skeletal frame, Emma Lou finally came home to the Cardwell cottage and her mommy’s warm embrace and delicious and tempting cooking!
Soft beds, plenty of nutritious food, and the love and attention every pet deserves were staples in her new home. The best parts of Emma Lou’s new life were her daily visits to the dog park with sister Haley and their extended family of Brady, 5, Gracie, 6, and Em’s new boyfriend Wyatte, a very active 3 year old (Obviously Emma Lou prefers younger men!) Emma became the only dog with whom Wyatte would share his ball, and being with a pack of young dogs had a “youthening” effect on the elderly hound (Video: courtesy Terri Cardwell).
From a scared, cautious pup who avoided all contact with other humans, this frightened and abused girl became a much more playful, confident and social animal who learned the meaning of trust late in life. Life was good. The pack was stable, animals and humans content in each other’s company.
An Unexpected Chapter
A bloodhound was called in to search, and followed Emma Lou’s winding scent trail through nearby neighborhoods to its termination at Brownsboro Road. An “animal communicator” reached out to offer spiritual support to Emma Lou to find her way back to her home, or at least to a location where her family could find her. Religious leaders and common folk stormed their Higher Powers on Emma Lou’s behalf. There are unconfirmed reports that the heavenly triumvirate of St. Francis of Assisi, Patron of Animals, St. Anthony, Patron of the Lost, and St. Jude, Patron of Impossible Causes, had to be sent on stress-relieving extended vacations as a result of believers’ imploring expectations of a miracle!
In spite of endless sightings from dozens of fliers posted, “boots on the ground” searches, and numerous Facebook updates, no one could seem to find this gypsy hunter. It was later discovered, as a result of a chance piece of information from a neighbor walking her dog, that Emma Lou had actually been in the possession of a family just two blocks from her home on Friday night.
Since she had lost her collar with i.d. tags, the would-be rescuers didn’t know how to find her owners. Micro-chipping is an inexpensive and valuable tool to identify a pet’s personal contact information, and Emma Lou is chipped, but the dog-less family thought only to offer the hungry hound some human food, take a heartbreaking photo of a cowering Emma, and plan to make a “found” poster the next day. Turning her out in their yard for the night, the Good Samaritans had no idea that her lust for freedom would inspire Emma Lou to crawl right under their loose fence and resume her cross-town trek.
It was apparent that the Crescent Hill Golf Course was Emma Lou’s haunt for some time that weekend, as several passers-by “shooed her back from the road,” according to tips gathered in the search. Barry Bonifield, the pro at CHGC, generously provided golf carts for searchers to scour the fairways and woods for signs of Emma Lou. He also admonished each and every golfer to keep an eye peeled for a ball-stealing coonhound!
Two Wrong Turns and Ten Minutes Late
Emma Lou managed over her four day journey to make her way nearly three miles from home into Cherokee Park. The following Tuesday morning, as a professional nanny named Emma Blair made a wrong turn on Beal’s Branch Road, the astute woman named Emma recognized the galloping dog named Emma from a poster she had seen at the Crescent Hill Bubble Pool.
Emma Blair relates that the “lost” sign caught her eye because of the dog’s name and because the photo resembled her own hound. Emma Blair raced to get Terri’s number, and called it to report that she’d spotted Emma Lou in the park within the last thirty minutes. Terri and other searchers rushed to the Alta Vista side of the park to hopefully capitalize on this newest, most solid information on Emma Lou’s whereabouts. From runners, walkers and drivers on the Loop, corroborating evidence mounted that Emma Lou had indeed been seen all over the park that very morning! Little did the searchers know the near-tragedy that was unfolding on the I-64 expressway just above their current location.
Emma Lou had found a hole in the park fence, and climbed to the busy four lane roadway just above the Beal’s Branch underpass. Attempting to cross the road in the direction of home, she was hit by a truck that never stopped, and thrown to the pavement in the center of Louisville’s morning rush hour traffic.
Rhonda Drury, ten minutes late on her way to work, witnessed the hit and run. Instead of joining the other drivers swerving around the struggling form, Rhonda stopped traffic with her car, and at great risk to her personal safety, used a blanket to tug the 65 pound dog to the shoulder of the roadway. She was helped by a man on the way to a funeral, who left the scene before he could be identified, but without whose help Rhonda may have herself been injured or killed in her rescue attempt.
Earlier that morning, Stuart Pass left his Pennsylvania Avenue home to go to work in Simpsonville, but instead of taking his usual left on Frankfort Avenue to access the expressway via Cannons Lane, he inadvertently turned right, and was obliged to follow Grinstead Drive to I-64. The prior evening, Terri and other searchers had made their way through Crescent Hill passing out “lost” flyers, and by a stroke of fate, Stuart offered to take their cell phone numbers in case he should encounter the dog. How fortunate was his impulse to put the numbers into his own phone!
Emma Lou had been struck just east of the Cochran Hill tunnel. Stuart saw traffic slowing, and as he approached the scene, immediately remembered the tricolored coonhound’s picture he had seen just twelve hours earlier. He called the cell number he had stored, and announced the bittersweet news that Emma Lou was alive, but had been hit and sustained serious damage.
Racing to the scene, Terri and her rescuers were able to lift Emma Lou, snapping wildly in pain, into the back of the car. She was transported to her own vet, where Dr. Schardein stabilized her, sedated her, and immediately sent the badly-injured dog to Metropolitan Veterinary Specialists, with the admonition that it would likely cost $4,000 to $6,000 to make Emma whole again.
The Surgery and Recovery
X-rays revealed that Emma Lou’s hind legs were segmented…one femur in three pieces, the other in four. She had blood in her mouth, which was later found to be from biting her tongue, and a broken ankle that was not discovered until a week later. Dr. Steven Royals skillfully repaired both of Emma Lou’s hind thigh bones, implanting steel rods and plates, and her long and challenging recovery began. The staff at Metropolitan was loving and caring during Emma’s stay, and her family’s heartfelt thanks go out to them all. (Photo: courtesy Metrovetlouisville.com)
Her homecoming a week later was joyous, but also a huge learning curve for her caregivers, as a “born to run and hunt” dog with two broken back legs is a pitiful sight to behold, and even harder to maneuver (Video: courtesy Terri Cardwell).
Miraculously, Emma Lou was walking on three legs within a few days, with a sling supporting her by two handlers. She delighted in returning to the dog park, her favorite place to potty, but the left foot was simply not in use. Upon reexamination a week later, her broken calcaneus (ankle) bone was discovered and a second surgery undergone to repair it. A fourth “angel,” mortgage banker Bev Leonhardt, who had been following Emma Lou’s saga on Facebook, opened an Emma Fund at PNC Bank to help defray the expenses incurred at Metropolitan Veterinary Specialists.
Cause to Celebrate
Friends are stepping up to plan a fundraiser concert on Sunday, October 23rd at 7 PM at Prime Lounge, 104 W. Main, featuring the hilarity of Tom Mabe, the music of Peter Searcy, DJ Derby City Diva (Leesa Mitchell of radio fame), and the fiery dance of Flamenco Louisville. A $20 donation is suggested, a cash bar is available, and snacks will be provided along with the excellent entertainment. All ages are welcome…as it is a special event, under 21 may enjoy the festivities, even though the poster printer earlier in the week stated “Must be 21 to enter.” Please bring the family! There is much to be learned from this experience, and schoolchildren all around the neighborhood who have followed the story of Emma Lou on Facebook are entitled to celebrate her life with the rest of us!
Animal advocates from many agencies throughout Louisville have been invited to join and be recognized by yours truly, Tara Bassett, as emcee of the festivities, along with presentation of the first Emma’s Angels Awards to those people directly responsible for saving Emma Lou’s life. It is hoped that meeting and exceeding the fundraising goal will allow Emma Fund to contribute to the needs of another family faced with the same excruciating decision: to euthanize their pet, or give the animal a chance to live again, regardless of ability to pay.
The Coonhound That Could continues to amaze her family and her medical care team with her progressive weight bearing on the cast-covered left leg, and her never-failing sunny attitude! The actual veterinary bills topped $8,000, but the reward of having her alive and otherwise healthy is all that matters to those who love her. Now Emma Lou is dealing with human-like reactions to anti-inflammatory medicines, which result in stomach issues. She required a trip back to Metropolitan Veterinary Specialists late last night for fluids and anti-nausea injections to help her keep food and water down. Every caregiver knows how hard it is to help the sick and injured patient with whom they are charged, and Emma Lou’s family is very grateful for the love and support offered to lift their spirits, as well!
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
Please join the friends and supporters who have helped bring Emma Lou back! Join us Sunday night at 7 pm, Prime Lounge downtown at 104 W. Main Street, for the Emma’s Angels Fundraiser Concert, with comedy, dance and music, plus some special guests to be announced!
It takes a village, they say, and this village should be mighty proud of the group of strangers whose lives so boldly intersected with Emma Lou- The Coonhound That Could– proof that selfless service to others and random acts of kindness are alive and well in Possibility City!
