The Pup Who Wouldn’t Die
Mira takes life-saving message to young people
FRANKLIN, Indiana – Four days after she was “euthanized”, the 3-month-old puppy was found by a shelter worker, crying out and struggling to keep her head above the mound of dead dogs in the freezer of the Rush County animal control shelter.
Mira (short for Miracle), as she’s now known, had somehow survived the lethal dose of drugs that was supposed to have killed her. The staff worker told her supervisor, who instructed her to take the dog back to the veterinarian to be killed again. Instead, Mira was secretly spirited away to a safe home and later adopted by Vicki Palmore, who is president of the board of the nearby Humane Society of Johnson County.
Mira was born in August 2007, in a muddy backyard in rural Indiana. The owners were classic backyard breeders. Mira’s mother had previously given birth just six months earlier, and was given no rest period after that. She died soon after giving birth to Mira and her litter mates. The owners couldn’t be bothered to raise the puppies themselves, and dropped them off at the already-crowded county shelter.
Mira with Vicki Palmore – photo by Scott Roberson, the Daily Journal
Today, three years later, Mira is a happy, playful mastiff-shepherd mix with an important job at the humane society. She visits classrooms to teach children about taking care of their pets and accompanies volunteers who promote spay/neuter and adoption for pets.
“Above all, we try to stress that pet ownership is a commitment that comes with responsibility and lasts for the life of the animal,” Palmore told the Daily Journal. “It’s not something that should be taken lightly, since there are far more animals than there are homes that will accept and love them.”