Yo Quero Taco Bell

Queenie

The cast on her foot came from her breaking a nail so low that she had to have her foot/leg bandaged up. Even that didn’t spoil her mood. She remains our queen.

When Queenie was 13.5 years old, she came to live with us. We got a call from a friend of a friend who was asking if there was anything we could do to help out this little Chihuahua. Queenie had lived with her one (and only) owner for most of her life – about 12 years. They lived together in an apartment building in the Bronx. Queenie actually helped her owner, medically, because the woman was suffering from Alzheimer’s, but no one knew. They found out because she and her owner would be spotting walking all over different neighborhoods that were far away from their home.

Finally, someone from her owner’s building got in touch with her daughter and said, “Your mother has been walking all over the Bronx with that Taco Bell dog.” When her daughter brought her to the doctor, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Eventually, she had to be put into a nursing home. The daughter took Queenie into her home. She was a single mom with a daughter and a Maltese. Shortly after Queenie moved in, the daughter had to move into a new place. The landlord of the new apartment would only allow her to have one dog. She chose the Maltese and started looking for a new home for the Queen.

Queenie came to live with us in December 2003. What was challenging about taking her in was that at the time, we already had NINE dogs (that’s another part of this story – buy the book!) – and Queenie only knew Spanish. We had to brush up on our Spanish in order to talk to Queenie.

It wasn’t difficult finding a place in our hearts for her. Although her picture looks quite angry, Queenie is actually a very lovable dog. She just doesn’t like being bothered by any of the other dogs. Everything must be on her terms.

To read Queenie’s entire story, watch for the release of M. Samantha Kinsley’s forthcoming book: Dogs Are Better Than People
The stories, photos, and thoughts on this blog are the intellectual property of M. Samantha Kinsley All Rights Reserved, 2006.