THE DOG THAT WAS DECLARED A SAINT

This is a simple story of one self-reliant dog and the small town that adopted her. Or was it the other way around?

It is also a tale of redemption, trust, friendship, love and respect.

It is the story of a dog that for years had no real owner, but was cared for by an entire town who respected her boundaries and let her live on her own terms; let her be as she needed to be.

Kaiya was the town dog of Index, Washington. It is not known if Kaiya was her real name but that is the name she was given by our town.

Years ago, exactly how many no one can really say for sure, Kaiya was a severely abused dog.  One day she escaped from her cruel owner and went out on her own living in the woods around Index.

She was forever wary of people due to the cruelty she’d experienced at the hands of a human being — the only species on earth known to take delight in abusing, sometimes to death, other living things simply for the sake of evil self gratification.  Animals kill for food to survive.  Humans kill for fun.

Over a long period of time Russell Lawson, a now deceased Index artist, slowly and carefully began to draw Kaiya out of the woods inch-by-inch, day by day.  He did it by moving a food bowl closer to his house.

Over time, Kaiya became comfortable in town and comfortable with the town’s people.  And with more time and more human contact, Kaiya began to stay in town full time.

Folks here and there would feed her, give her water if she needed it, and would allow her to sleep and stay and  pretty much go where she wanted.

SHE BECOMES THE TOWN DOG, AND THEN A SAINT

Kaiya became, more or less, the Town of Index dog. Nobody really owned her but an individual licensed her as it is required by town ordinance.

This webmaster, along with his wife, moved to Index about 7 years ago and Kaiya was instantly on our back deck.  Shooing her off did no good.  She was there for the treats and leftovers we had in the house.

Little did we know that Kaiya had a carefully planned “daily route” in town where she would go from one door to another (of the folks that tolerated her) and would smile for a treat or a bowl of food.

About a year after we moved here, a neighbor donated a dog house that sat prominently in our front yard.

We invested in dog treats, dog food and a dog bowl. There were three of us that took care of her on a pretty regular basis and those that took care of her, she protected –literally.

In one instance she chased three dogs off of our property that were getting ready to attack this webmaster’s wife.  Even with her severe arthritis, Kaiya bolted twice after these snarling mutts, putting a gash in one mutt’s neck. Those dogs never returned.

If a stranger was in town and approached our front door the stranger always turned around and left after Kaiya – all 80 pounds of her – stood up and growled (she would not normally hurt a flea but you’d think twice about approaching her).

Kaiya was very protective of females and children but she did not (could not) trust humans in general.

Once she got to know you however, you could pet her if you had food in your hand or when she was lying around and did not feel like moving.

But true bonding and one-on-one pal ship as is present in many a human-dog relationships? No. She could not allow it.  Those were her boundaries and we respected her wishes in that regard.  She gave us what she could and we did the same.

Folks around here liked her so much that Kaiya was declared a “Saint” a few years back by the town council and was allowed to live out her days in this quiet,  peaceful slice of the gorgeous Cascade mountains.

AGE AND ILL HEALTH BROUGHT CHANGES

In recent years with her advancing age (our best guess is she was 10 to 13 years old),  no regular vet care and living outside all the time (which was taking a toll on her), Kaiya was starting to get a bit grouchy, a bit snappy to folks at times.

She probably was hurting from that arthritis, other health problems and who knows what other old injuries she sustained from her abusive owner and living out in the woods for a long time.

A few months back, Dr. David Wendt, the veterinarian from Sultan, came to town to corral Kaiya and fix her ears as well as give her a shot.  He was able to get the shot in her but she could not be kept down for the ear treatment.

Dr. Wendt stated that beyond the ear infection Kaiya might also have been experiencing some kidney issues too.  Thinking back on it, she drank about 2 to 3 gallons of water a day and that was just at our house. No telling how much she drank elsewhere.

Then she nipped somebody in the calf about  2 weeks ago.  Something had to be done.

But Kaiya was too crafty to be caught by our animal control officer so outside help was employed and the mayor got involved.

Plain and simple, Kaiya was streetwise but alas, not wise enough to remain free after being given a pill that made her drowsy.

She was transported to a shelter and there was to be a determination made to see if she was vicious.

The shelter was a four-day shelter but they said for $10.00 a day after the four days, she would not be put down.

This would be, we thought, an opportunity to build a fence and house Kaiya across the street from us.  But fate intervened.

After some blood tests and a physical checkup by a veterinarian, it was determined that Kaiya had serious infections in her ears (we knew about that) as well as a host of other physical problems that would make her life unbearable through the winter.

There was not much else to be done due to her advanced age and many physical problems.

Sadly, on September 30, 2009 Kaiya – the independent, self-reliant, self-surviving canine, the “Saint of Index” that so many of us had grown to love and respect – was put to sleep.

But Kaiya will not be forgotten.  The former animal control officer of Index has paid for Kaiya’s cremation and she will be buried  at old Wes Smith’s yard and hopefully a marker will be placed there in remembrance of the Saint Of Index.

Dang, but how we miss that old dog.

Kaiya – The Town Saint

We are going to keep this short even though there is much to say.

Kayia was the “Town Dog” more or less. More because many tended to her, less because she was her own boss and did as she pleased.

Kayia nipped somebody in the leg over a week ago and she had to be put into an animal control shelter for evaluation. Plans were in the works to put her up at Yvonne’s house, fenced in to avoid future issues.

I guess you could say it was blind luck that she was put into the shelter. The vet found many things wrong with her and her health was failing.

The short of the story is, Kayia was euthanized today at noon. Our former animal control officer, Angel, was at hand for this sad event. Angel volunteered to pay for Kayia’s cremation and Kayia’s remains will be brought back to her stomping grounds and buried on Wes Smith’s property, the man that Kayia loved so dearly. They were best friends.