here kitty, kitty, kitty ...

Our beloved Basset, Ethel (named after my Grandmother), passed away this summer about a week before her 12th Birthday. My husband, Tom, and I were devastated at her loss. Our 13-year-old Beagle, Rebel (a girl) missed her dearly too.

I contacted a name, Madeline Wilson, on a list I found on the Internet, that I thought might help us find another loving Basset hound. She told me about BROOD and I checked out the web site. Through the tireless efforts of Helen and John Seldon, my family is now complete. A Basset was found at a shelter in the Manteo area, and when we visited Helen and John on October 21, 2001 to see the little sweetie, we fell in love. We named her after my mother, "Kitty", and since they said she was about 1 year old, I decided to celebrate her birthday on my sister's birthday, November 22, 2001 (which appropriately happened to be Thanksgiving this year).

We are falling in love more and more every day with this little bundle of energy and love. She has brought "new life" to our older Beagle, and continues to give us love and kisses. We put "jingle bells" on her collar to make sure I can tell where she is in our fenced back yard, and it's so cute to hear her jingle, as she is racing around the yard, or tiptoeing through the doggie door to see if she's missing anything.

She has made herself right at home. Kitty can often be found sleeping on the blanket on the sofa or even at the foot of our bed. She loves hugs and has mastered "sit", "Kitty come", and is working on "stay". That's a tough one when Rebel seems to take her time chewing her "treat".

One night, Kitty was asleep at the foot of our bed, when a lady on TV started calling, "here kitty, kitty, kitty..." Kitty jumped up and started barking at the TV. I was laughing so hard I don't know if she heard me say, "she's not talking to you! It's on TV!" hahahaha.

Thank you BROOD, Madeline, John and Helen for all that you do to rescue these wonderful loving creatures, and for bringing so much love into our hearts. Kitty has definitely found her FOREVER home! God bless you all, and God bless America! 

Jean, Tom, Rebel & Kitty Hughes