Tina Roe was carjacked in St. Louis whereas doing volunteer work to assist misplaced pets; her personal canine’s wheelchair was within the stolen automobile. Did this dampen Tina’s spirit? Heck, no! This powerhouse of an animal lover was out the subsequent day, serving to animals as soon as once more. Right here’s the story:
Simply an Unusual Day
Tina, who works full-time for Wells Fargo Advisors, was out hanging up flyers for a discovered canine on that fateful day. She volunteers with Missouri Misplaced & Discovered Paws, an all-volunteer nonprofit. Tina is one in every of a staff of volunteers who hold flyers to reunite misplaced pets with their households, lure stray pets who’re clearly misplaced, and analysis microchips discovered on misplaced pets.
Tina had run out of flyers however nonetheless had another pole she wished to hold one on, so she walked again to the passenger aspect of her automobile to retrieve a flyer from the passenger seat. Out of the blue Tina felt a gun pressed into her again. She spun round and here is the interchange that adopted:
“You virtually scared me to dying!” Tina mentioned.
“I’m not going to harm you. Simply give me your cash,” mentioned the robber.
“I don’t have cash! I reside in the identical neighborhood as you!”
“Get within the automobile!”
Tina reported that she climbed over to the driving force’s seat, and the robber received into the passenger seat and went by way of her purse.
“Hey, you don’t have any cash in right here!” he mentioned.
“I instructed you I didn’t have cash!” Tina replied.
It was at that time that the robber pulled out two knives, which he ultimately used to chop the wires in Tina’s automobile, telling her that he deliberate to steal the car. He requested her to get out and stroll throughout a close-by bridge that led to a park. At first Tina resisted.
“Look, why do you need to begin out in life like this?” Tina requested. “How about we get out of the automobile and also you assist me end placing up flyers?”
“Get out of the automobile!” he yelled.
What Was Misplaced
Tina headed to the park, ultimately operating down a hill to a major avenue, the place she hopped onto a bus and instructed the driving force what had occurred. It was solely after she had met with the police that she started considering of what else had been within the automobile when it was stolen: her canine Prince’s wheelchair.
Tina had adopted Prince a yr earlier from Stray Rescue of St. Louis. He had include a wheelchair. Tina didn’t know the place the wheels had come from, so when she realized they had been stolen together with the automobile, she turned to the web. Prince had been doing very nicely in his wheels, so Tina wished to get the identical mannequin.
Happily, Prince’s wheelchair had been a camo Walkin’ Wheels rear wheelchair, which she acknowledged on-line as quickly as she noticed it. When Tina emailed Walkin’ Pets inquiring about sizing for a alternative set of wheels for Prince, the Walkin’ Pets staff responded with a donation of recent Walkin’ Wheels. This time round, Prince received a blue Walkin’ Wheels, and Tina emailed,
“I can’t thanks all sufficient for giving Prince his wheels. I by no means thought of simply how a lot was in my automobile, however once I realized his wheels had been nonetheless in there from the weekend journey, my coronary heart was crushed. You all had been a blessing within the midst of all of the chaos.”
“Prince does very well,” says Tina. “He loves that chair!”
All in a Day’s Work
Not solely does Tina look after candy Prince and volunteer many, many hours for Missouri Misplaced & Discovered Paws, however she can also be the Vice President of the MO Min Pin Rescue. Tina often fosters a number of canines from the Min Pin Rescue who’re on the lookout for everlasting properties. Not together with the fosters, she has eight different canines moreover Prince. Sure, 8!
Here’s a rundown of the canine household:
- Cooper, 14 years previous. Cooper is Tina’s retired obedience canine and nonetheless works onerous visiting nursing properties as a remedy canine.
- Alex, 14 years previous. Alex was Tina’s grandmother’s canine; she took him in when her grandmother moved right into a nursing dwelling.
Cooper Alex - Pink, a Min Pin rescue who Tina fostered after which couldn’t resist preserving ceaselessly!
Pink
- Skye, a blue-eyed Chihuahua rescue adopted from Needy Paws Rescue.
- Prince, one-year-old rescue with everlasting again accidents who makes use of Walkin’ Wheels.
- Fen, adopted with Prince since they had been a bonded pair (Chihuahua mixes). Fen had FHO surgical procedure.
Skye, Fen, and Prince
- Jay, a Min Pin surrendered for biting, however Tina has had no issues with him in any respect.
- Orc, a 16-year-old discovered wandering the streets as a stray. Tina stored him when he was unclaimed.
Jay Orc -
Chase
Chase, probably the most not too long ago adopted Chihuahua rescue. Tina says,
“Chase is so candy and cuddly and loving, however loopy! I’ve misplaced 5 pairs of sneakers between him and my foster!”
Pet Rescuer Work By no means Ends
Tina’s work as an avid animal lover doesn’t ever finish. In addition to all her volunteer work for the Min Pin Rescue, which saves many canines from high-kill states equivalent to Texas, her work at Missouri Misplaced & Discovered Paws is relentless. Tina estimates that the group has 10-50 pets it really works with per day all through the state of Missouri, with a big proportion in St. Louis.
Tina finds it particularly gratifying to assist pet house owners put up flyers who could also be homebound, like many aged of us. Likewise, making flyers for poor households who won’t be capable of afford the price of printing them for his or her misplaced pets. Tina has been volunteering with this group since 2011. That’s lots of dedication! That is lots of pets and households which were reunited, and a complete lot of affection.
