Iris Bouressa

Human Entrant's First Name
Eileen

City
Asheville

My Pet Came From:
Asheville Humane Society

Pet's Story
At 12 weeks old, Iris was sent to be spayed with her siblings, but she was too sick for the surgery. Not wanting her to be alone and scared, an adoption counselor brought her into my office and commented that she looks just like Milo, my 11-year-old Saint Bernard mix who had just passed unexpectedly a couple of weeks before. As I breathed in her puppy breath, I heard myself say, "Of course we can foster her."

It was the first time in decades the Bouressa family didn't have a dog, and our home had felt so empty. But, Iris was young and healthy, had all of her legs and eyes and didn't have numerous fears and weird habits. Clearly she was not a Bouressa. But when it was time to take her back, my family pleaded with me.

My 16-year-old son, who had been looking for a project car to restore with his dad, told me he would give up getting a car if we could keep the puppy. Whoa. What!? Then my other son told me how he has loved every one of our foster animals (including one delightful pig after my husband called a moratorium on foster dogs), but it also made him sad. Swallowing hard and holding back tears, he asked, "Mom, can we please have a dog who won't die next year?"

He was right. My kids had spent years of animals peeing on their bedroom carpets and throwing up in their beds. They were so kind and gentle to the scared babies who would just growl at them. They fed, they medicated, they bathed, they trained, and they cleaned up after so many old, injured and sick foster pets, many of whom died in our care. They were raised with empathy, compassion and the rescue spirit. And they had earned this. Welcome home, Iris.

Yesterday morning one of them stepped out of bed and slid across his floor. Sure enough, our new ten-year-old foster hound had gotten confused in the dark and made a mess on his rug. My son had just started to complain about it when Iris bounced into the kitchen, all awkward and silly. He knelt down next to her wriggling body, glanced at me briefly, looked back at her and said, "You are totally worth it, baby girl."