Temba

I took possession of Temba the first week of September. She was born in June 2000. She was signed over to rescue that day as she had a distended stomach, deformed front legs and the most wonderful temperament I have ever seen. For the weekend I had her in my care we went to a dog park, a training session which she watched from the safety of her crate and a day in the country for lunch. She played with other Rhodesian Ridgebacks, children and a sweet cattle dog. She played with many cats and was fascinated with them.

Every five minutes or so, she would stop playing and lie down to regroup her strength. She was beautiful and so tiny - only about 11 pounds at 12 weeks. She loved to snuggle. She slept on my bed for two nights.

We went to the vet the next morning and after bloodwork was done, we took many x-rays. She had no hip bones on one side, her little front legs were so deformed we did not know how she played as hard as she did when she must have been in such pain. With tears of both sorrow and anger I euthanized Temba and wished her a safe journey across the Rainbow Bridge.

Temba was the result of very close in-breeding - the two pure bred parents were perhaps a year or less in age and possibly brother and sister. Temba was born so deformed that the veterinarians and radiologists have written a report on this puppy. I want her to have her own star. She did not deserve to be born and treated the way she was. She is going to leave a legacy of education behind her death as we are creating part of our web site to show others why they should learn about breeding before buying their dogs.