Zoey composed the following on the one-year anniversary of her adoption, to thank the members of the beagle club in Oregon who saved her and rehabilitated her, then found her a new, safe home. She still can't manage capital letters.

hi, it's me, zoey.

aunt ellen wanted me to tell you about my life since you helped save it, and today, one year since I arrived at my real home in california, seems a good day to tell you about me.

do you remember me? i used to be named cinder. the people who bought me from a pet shop when i was just a little tyke hurt me very badly—they broke me—and then they didn't fix me. after two weeks, they took me to a veterinarian to have me put to sleep. i hurt too badly to be sleepy.

there a veterinary technician liked me and convinced my owners to give me to her, and she arranged to have me fixed. i had to have orthopedic surgery, and pins and a screw were put in my elbow, and then i got a big blue cast. i was so tiny that the cast was almost as big as i was. then i was sent to live with a nice lady named gina hietz, who was my foster mom.

many of you sent money to pay for my surgery and my care, and so did people from a beagles list that aunt ellen belongs to, arooooo! (i belong to it, too, now.) i want to thank you for that because without your help i would be crippled or dead, and now i have a good life and am spoiled rotten. i'm grown up, but i'm still very small—but i'm muscular and can jump straight up in the air and run like the wind.

anyhow, aunt ellen not only told you about me, but she told arooooo! about me, and people sent money, and then she asked if anyone wanted me, and mimi kahn, the administrator of the beagles list, said she'd luuuuuuv to have me, and she named me zoey. so one year ago today, my little green crate and i were put on alaska airlines and sent to oakland, california, where my new mom and dad met me at alaska airlines air freight (along with half the people at the airport, who heard a puppy was arriving), cuddled me a lot, took me to a grassy place to pee, and took me home to be their little beagle. i was four months and one day old.

when i got home i met the rest of the pack—two beagles named casey and meg, a big pony of a puppy named jenny t. who was also adopted over the internet, and two little guys named joey and jack. i had sooooo many other dogs to play with. it was hard for my new mom and dad to keep me still so that my elbow could heal.

i met my new veterinarians, dr. frizzell and dr. eger, and they thought it would be good to remove my pins and screw when i was six months old, when i would get spayed, but then they x-rayed my elbow to be extra careful and decided to leave the pins and screw in place, maybe forever. but i got spayed, and again it was a chore to keep me still. mom thought she'd have to nail my feet to the floor.

when i was about nine months old i started to limp, and dr. frizzell and dr. eger x-rayed my elbow again and saw arthritis growing around the pins and screw, so they took them out. this was just a little incision, and i bounced right back, and i haven't stopped bouncing since. sometimes i limp a little when the weather changes, but usually i don't limp at all, and nothing slows me down.

i have a good life here. my parents love me a whole lot. they buy me toys and have nicknames for me (like zozo) and let me sleep in their bed under the covers. for easter they got me a little lamb, and i luuuuuv him and carry him around with me and sleep with him, so he's under the covers, too. my parents indulge me.

meg has adopted me and treats me like her puppy. she protects me and lets me use her as a pillow. sometimes casey lets me use him as a pillow, too, and he wrestles with me. he's 11 years old so i like to make him play like a puppy.

i have been to beagle fests, where people from arooooo! get together with their beagles and party. i have had good times running around with jake, a yellow lab and honorary beagle, who reminds me of the golden retrievers i lived with when i was with aunt gina. i still keep in touch with aunt gina, who was very kind to me.

i have my own web page, where you can see how i grew up (although my parents still call me their puppy).

if not for all of you, i wouldn't have this happy life—or any life at all, probably. i know i'm not a show dog, but i'm a good little beagle and deserve to be loved, and my parents love me a whole lot. and i love them. and i love all of you for saving me.

i have advice for beagles out there who need homes. don't get owned. get adopted. it's much better to have parents than to have owners.

                                                                                          love to you all,

                                                                                                    zoey

April 4, 1999