Willow's Story

In mid-October, 2010, Fr. Eddie Fronske, O.F.M. looked out the back door of the St. Francis Catholic Church and was surprised at what he saw.

There were two puppies at his back door. He looked around and saw Willow walking back to the church with another puppy in her mouth.

He watched her tenderly lay the puppy with the others. She walked to an abandoned house and went under it. Fr. Eddie and Joe followed Willow and found the rest of her litter under the house.

Willow had NINE puppies !!!

Willow looked thin and tired. She brought the puppies to the church where she has found food before. Her instincts told her she could no longer feed so many mouths.

She loved her offspring and she intuitively knew that they would be taken care of, if she gave them to the priest who had given her food in the past.

Willow and the father dog watched as Fr. Eddie and Joe rescued all the puppies from under the house and brought them to the church.

I know Willow and the father dog understood on a spiritual level that the priest and his friends would protect, feed and shelter their offspring.

Fr. Eddie and Anna took on the job of feeding and tending the puppies, who looked to be about 4 weeks old. The church had no place to keep nine puppies. A large cardboard box became their new home. The demands on Fr. Eddie’s and Anna’s time is tremendous, and caring for the puppies was not an easy task for them.

I offered to take on two of the puppies at first, then offered to foster all nine puppies. I gave them my bathroom. They were really glad to get out of that cardboard box.

They were covered with fleas, but otherwise healthy, we thought. They developed diarrhea. Then I was struck with it also. I ended up in the hospital for three days, my hospital gown was my Halloween costume! I was in isolation, so I got no treats! The puppies had Giardia and Campylobacter disease and infected me. We all recovered but it was not a fun experience.

I was lucky that my son Carl and his dog Enzo, who live in Mesa, AZ were visiting me at the time. I was also fostering a dog for the Humane Society. Carl was left to care for 11 dogs, by himself, for three days. I am very thankful Carl was there to help, and did not fall ill. Nine puppies with diarrhea is not a pretty sight!!

Fr. Eddie was able to find a no-kill shelter to take seven of the puppies. I kept two. It is very hard to get a dog into the two shelters we have here in Pinetop, AZ. We have more stray and abandoned dogs than shelter space. Whiteriver has no shelter.

After this experience, Fr. Eddie had Joe build two large dog houses. Two dogs have given birth in the new houses. Both of the mothers had six puppies. Four puppies from each litter were stolen. The puppies were taken at night by unknown persons before they were old enough to be weaned.

I took on the surviving two puppies from each litter. Two puppies are four months old, two puppies are two months old. They are very smart and loving and thriving very well.