Just a little story as I prepare for a three-week Indian Health Service locum tenens assignment in Tsaile, Arizona, near Canyon de Chelly: The first time I hiked in Canyon de Chelly, seven years ago, our group found a little border collie dog near death under a tractor down in the canyon.
Long story short, we got her to a vet in Gandao who managed to save her from parvo. And the next thing you know I'm calling my husband from Albuquerque to tell him: "Honey, I've got this precious dog we saved." One call to Delta to add her on to the flight, a visit to Pet Smart for a carrier, and a bath at the hotel in Albuquerque later - she came home with us! We named her Kathryn after the Navajo woman who owned that tractor. Later that week my husband said, "I like the dog!" And she's been his ever since. She weighed 15 pounds then, was about six months old, and undernourished. Now she's at 60 pounds and one of our joys - so I'll give her regards to the Canyon when I'm in Tsaile!
P.S. Check out Blackhat Humane Society,
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/rezdog.html, a non-profit organization established in 2000 that is dedicated to rescuing and finding homes for abandoned animals and livestock. They are the only Humane Society on the Navajo Reservation (an area roughly the size of West Virginia).
