Jem & Scout

Jem & Scout

Jem and his sister Scout joined our family in late 2010. In no time at all, Jem became my best friend, not just a beloved pet. He and I were inseparable, and whenever he heard the jingle of my car keys, he dashed to the front door, knowing that a ride somewhere-anywhere-was in store. After one of those rides, on February 14, 2013, Jem reacted instinctively to the roar of a truck passing by. He was hit, and died in my arms on the way to the vet. My world was shattered.

A few months later, I got a call from Leslie Matthews, a volunteer foster parent for DFW Pug Rescue. She told me she had a pug that I might like to meet, if I thought I was ready to have another pet. After a week of soul-searching, she and her husband Lyle, also a DFW Pug Rescue volunteer, brought Farah to my house. It was love at first sight.

Only a pug can fill the void left by the death of another pug.

Mitzee, Dahlia, Farah, Nessie

Mitzee, Dahlia, Farah, Nessie

Later, I adopted another pug, a boisterous one-year-old named Mitzee. My love of pugs grew even more, and I decided to become a DFW Pug Rescue volunteer foster myself. However, as so many of us learn, it’s sometimes not possible to let go of a particularly lovable foster. That’s the way I came to adopt two more pugs: Nessie, who has had both eyes surgically removed; and Dahlia, a black pug with a white star on her chest. “My girls”, as I call them, are at the center of my life.

With my own grumble of four pugs filling up the house, I no longer foster for long periods of time. But I’m still a grateful DFW Pug Rescue volunteer: managing the “belly band” inventory, transporting pugs from one place to another, respite fostering for other volunteers-doing whatever I can to help the pugs and my fellow volunteers-in memory of my beloved Jem.

– John Middleton