Sam-and-Bonnie
Pamela Curry celebrated an important anniversary this past week: It was the third anniversary of the day she found Bonnie.
It was July 10, 2015, as Curry downloaded the PDF version of that week’s Dallas Voice, as usual. As she flipped through the pages, she came across the Pet of the Week feature.
Every week, Dallas Voice highlights a specific pet up for adoption at the SPCA of Texas. The pet of the week on July 10, 2015, was a lovely orange tabby cat named Bonnie.
Curry was still mourning the death of her beloved Gizmo, who she had adopted when he was a wee kitten and had trained as her service animal. She had purchased some special canned food for Gizmo as a treat for his third birthday; unfortunately, that food had been recalled, and Curry found out too late.
But, she said, that day when she was flipping through the PDF, “I saw Bonnie in the Dallas Voice and something inside said, ‘Get her!’ So I called.”
Although the Pet of the Week feature said that Bonnie was at the SPCA of Texas’ main shelter on Lone Star Drive, near I-30 and Hampton, when Curry called to ask about her, she learned Bonnie had been moved to an adoption site much closer to Curry’s home.
“So I set off to the Pet Smart on Coit Road she had been shuffled to and proceeded to adopt her,” Curry said.
And now, three years later, Curry and Bonnie are still best of friends.
“She’s not as social as Gizmo, but I’d gotten him as a weeks-old kitten, which made training him as a service animal easier,” Curry said.
“Bonnie was already a year old when I adopted her, and that made training much more difficult. She’ll never pass the [service animal] test.
“Even after three years, she is skittish about going outside other than on my balcony. And she isn’t as patient about taking photos as Gizmo was, either,” Curry said. “Still, she is a great and loving companion. Last night, to celebrate our third anniversary, I gave her some of my salmon.”
Curry said that losing Gizmo had left her in “a lot of emotional pain.” But “Bonnie helped me through it. Now we have our own relationship. It’s not the same; it’s ours!”
Most of the animals up for adoption at SPCA of Texas are dogs and cats, but SPCA does offer other animals — horses, pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs, for example — for adoption. You can see all the pets available for adoption at SPCAFindAPet.com.
— Tammye Nash