subtitled Bye Bye (for now) to Benedict and Kaos

Benedict and Kaos have a 3pm flight out of LGA to Miami. TODAY. They’re getting out of here before it gets cold again!!! I’m so happy for them. They were sleeping in various places (like ATM vestibules) that couple weeks when it was so cold. The cops mostly left him alone. (He’s a nice guy.) He can’t go in any of the shelters with Kaos. He’d been getting some day work here and there too, but only when he had someone to leave Kaos with. (It’s hard to go to work when you have no home to leave your dog in!) He’s been talking about trying to get to Florida (he has family there) before the cold set in, but (1) he didn’t have his ID and (2) traveling with the dog is next to impossible - it makes hitchhiking way harder; Amtrak won’t take dogs; Greyhound doesn’t take dogs - dogs can fly but only when it’s above 45 degrees, plus flying is expensive. We’d talked about trying to find a place to keep Kaos while Benedict hitched down to Florida (besides being cheaper, he hates to fly) and then fly her down to meet him, but he didn’t want to leave her behind.

Well, then, "How did this happen?" you may ask. Apparently, Benedict and Kaos have angels watching out for them. About two weeks ago, he and I were talking and he asked me if I knew Bettina. "Bettina, with the little Chihuahua? Sure, I know her." (All us dog-folk know each other, after all.) He proceeded to tell me that Bettina had offered to buy him a plane ticket as soon as he had his ID in order, which he had just accomplished. Wow! I ran into Bettina a few days later and told her what he’d said. That night, she bought him a ticket and arranged for Pet Chauffeur to pick the two of them up at 11:30 this morning. Then, another neighborhood friend, Mary, who I’ve blogged about before, donated Rafter’s kennel for Kaos to fly in. Benedict took Kaos back to the vet to get her health certificate and Bettina picked up the kennel from Mary. This morning, Benedict and Kaos met up with Bettina, got the kennel and the e-ticket info, and hopped into the pet taxi to LGA!

He promised he’d call me after they get settled, to let me know they’re doing alright. I sure hope he does. I’m going to miss having them around the neighborhood, but I’m SO GLAD they’re headed somewhere warm now.

Last, but not least, Bettina took on a big expense (Benedict’s ticket, Kaos’s ticket, Pet Chauffeur, etc.), so if anyone wants to make a donation to help cover her costs, let me know.