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Remembering
Karen continued...
Karen explained that she had recently
lost her 12 year old female bulldog Elizabeth, a rescued Bulldog she
had adopted, to old age. She still owned a male Bulldog named
Carleton, and both she and Carleton wanted to add a new member to the
family. Listening to Karen talk about her life with Elizabeth and
Carleton, and now just with Carleton, it wasn't hard to tell that Karen
was a loving, dedicated, responsible dog owner. We ended a lengthy
conversation with the promise that I would be in touch when I became
aware of a Frenchie that would be suitable for her household.
Within weeks of my conversation with
Karen, I received a call from a woman who needed to re-home one of her
own pack of French Bulldogs, a tiny female named Mini. Apparently
little Mini never fit in well with the other five French Bulldogs that
resided in her home and her owner felt Mini would be so much happier in
a situation where she would have the individual attention she craved.
She did not want to surrender Mini to rescue or foster care, but wanted
to review potential new homes for Mini herself. The perfect option was
the Frenchie Outpost, an online French Bulldog placement service once
provided by French Bulldog Rescue Network, similar to the placement
service now provided by the French Bulldog Bus. Shortly thereafter,
Mini's bio appeared on the Frenchie Outpost, and I immediately thought
of Karen.
I emailed Karen and sent her a link to
Mini's bio on the website and soon she was was in contact with Mini's
owner to inquire about the possibility of adopting Mini. It turned out
that Mini was the ideal new family member for Karen and her lonely
Bulldog Carleton and in April 2004, little Mini acquired a brand new
home and a brand new name, Lizette, or Lizzy to her closest friends.
I felt a connection to Karen. We shared
things in common, we were both single women with no human children; our
dogs were a big part of our lives, our children with four legs. Karen
stayed in touch after she adopted Lizzy. She emailed me from time to
time with updates and pictures of Carleton and Lizzy and shared stories
of their life and adventures together.
One day, with my two Frenchies in tow, I
traveled 65 miles away from my home to visit my cousin. While waiting
for her to arrive home from work, I decided to take the dogs for a short
walk at a local outdoor shopping mall. As we were walking along, I
heard a woman's voice call out..."Can I visit with your French
Bulldogs?" as I turned to see who it was, I recognized the pretty lady
with long blonde hair, it was Karen Krings!
We laughed at the coincidence of our
meeting, she had just happened to stop by the shopping center to pick up
her dry-cleaning. We spent some time talking about our dogs while she
knelt down to greet my two, Ruby & Gigi. She said she had Carleton and
Lizzy in her car and eagerly took me to her vehicle where the dogs were
waiting and proudly introduced me to her four-legged kids. We parted
laughing, delighted to have met one another at last. Life has amazing
twists and turns...it's hard to understand sometimes why we are thrown
the cards we are dealt, some may say it's a part of life, others say
it's God's will. I didn't know that day would be the last time I would
ever see Karen again. In April 2006, Karen Krings succumbed to cancer.
With the adoption of Lizette, Karen became
an avid supporter of French Bulldog rescue and made many contributions
to the French Bulldog Rescue Network (FBRN). Months after adopting Lizzy
in 2004, Karen reached out and contacted the founder and then active
President of FBRN, Charlotte Creeley to discuss making provisions for
Carleton's and Lizzy's future should anything ever happen to her. She
wanted to make sure they would have the opportunity to find a wonderful,
loving new home together, and that they would be well cared for the rest
of their lives in the event of her death. Charlotte agreed and promised
that she would do everthing that she could to ensure that Carleton and
Lizzy could stay together should anything ever happen to Karen. At the
time, she didn't know that she would soon have to keep that promise.
In late March of 2006, Karen's attorney
contacted Charlotte to give her sad news, Karen was near death and could
no longer put off seeking a new home for her beloved dogs, could
Charlotte start looking for a new home for Carleton and Lizzy?
Charlotte's initial thought was to post the dogs on the Frenchie Outpost
on the French Bulldog Network, "FBRN" website, but after contacting the
new President of FBRN, she learned that FBRN was about to launch a new
fund-raiser and would not be able to give the dogs prominence on the
website that they needed in order to ensure their timely placement. So
Charlotte chose another option instead... a rescue group called
Cascade Bulldog Rescue in Washington
state, operated by a long time rescuer of Bulldogs and Frenchies, Cindy
Mozingo. Cindy recognized the urgency of the situation and did not
hesitate. A bio of the pair of soon to be orphans, together with the
above portrait, immediately appeared on the front page of the rescue
website, and the dogs were taken out of daycare and were flown north
across the wide expanse of California, Oregon, and into Washington
state. There, they would stay in Cindy's home as guests until a permanent home could be
found for both of them together. Cindy and Charlotte screened
applications for the dogs until one home stood out... and today Carleton
and Lizzy are happy in their new home, enjoying life with their three
new canine siblings, under the watchful and loving eyes of a pair of
experienced bulldog owners.
Although Karen died shortly before her
dogs found a new home, I believe she knows they are loved and taken care
of, and still together. I would like to dedicate the inauguration of
the French Bulldog Village to the memory of Karen Krings, fellow Bulldog
lover, rescuer, supporter, and friend.
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