Flood of volunteers help Bradenton animal rescue

Donna Arnold eased onto the floor of her Silver Lake home and grabbed a green-and-yellow dinosaur to lure over her new love, Bullet, a black-and-tan Chihuahua.

They played for a moment before Bullet sat down and leaned his back against Arnold’s leg.

“He’s just so loving with what he’s been through,” she said. “And he’s trusting. How can you not love him? He follows you around with those big, brown eyes.”

Arnold and her sister Sharry Lueck, who also is her roommate, adopted the 6-year-old Bullet from Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue Aug. 5, just three days after agreeing to take him on a temporary basis. After her 18-year-old American Eskimo, Timber, died five years ago, Donna Arnold swore she would never get another dog.

But on July 31, downpours from Tropical Storm Emily flooded the kennel area at Nate’s campus on Lorraine Road, sending organization leaders on a quest to place about 70 dogs and cats in foster care in homes. They put a plea on Facebook for foster homes and within four hours had sent about 55 dogs and cats home with newly registered foster families. Fifteen more, who had been at the veterinarian for spay/neuter, were placed the following day.

“We never thought we would have such a response,” Nate’s Associate Director Karen Slomba said.

Arnold and Lueck were among the people who responded, and within hours were matched with a dog. They first took home a pit bull mix named Linda. The dog seemed OK, at first, but later demonstrated behaviors that concerned the pair, so they returned her to Nate’s the following day and offered to take a different animal instead.

“Then they brought out Bullet,” Lueck said.

After just being neutered, Bullet was sneezing and shy and needed an allergen-free home without other animals. For Lueck, it was love at first sight, and she carried the dog home in her lap.

Bullet had a mangled ear, a bowed back left leg and fur missing where he had likely been burned or cut. The veterinarian told them he had probably been shot.

Within one day, Arnold knew she wanted to keep Bullet, but she didn’t want to board him during her trip to Europe at the end of August. Lueck would be traveling during that timeframe, as well, and Nate’s could not promise Bullet would be available for adoption after they returned.

“I was almost in tears,” Arnold said. “I didn’t want him to be abused again, and I knew he would have a good home here.”

Her friend, Julie Bifano, agreed to keep Bullet during the sisters’ vacations and the pair filled out the adoption paperwork Aug. 5.

“He had such a cute personality,” Lueck said. “He comes up and puts his head on your lap. It’s like, ‘Oh yeah, this is my home.’”

Arnold said the arrangement is perfect. Bullet is small enough to go on annual camping trips with the sisters. At about 6 years old, he is house broken and they can take turns taking him on walks or tending to his other needs. He only eats a quarter cup of dry dog food and one tablespoon of wet food twice a day.

He loves to play and rarely barks — so far, only at men.

Arnold and Lueck had signed up to walk dogs at Nate’s in November 2016, but never had the opportunity. During the winter months, seasonal volunteers seemed to fill up the dog-walking slots in which the sisters were interested, and soon they abandoned their efforts.

The sisters had talked about fostering animals, but had not signed up yet to do it. Arnold brought up the idea just a week before the storm and mentioned she would look more into it after she returned from a vacation to Europe.

Then, they saw the Facebook plea and their plans changed.

Arnold pulled a toy off the carpet and waved it toward Bullet, who was ready to play.

“God works in mysterious ways,” she said.