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Stray dog brings Moses Lake woman solace, purpose

By Lucy Luginbill, Tri-City Herald
Published: September 21, 2017, 8:54pm
2 Photos
Kim Jasper of Moses Lake shares a moment with Ruckus, the border collie she rescued.
Kim Jasper of Moses Lake shares a moment with Ruckus, the border collie she rescued. Lucy Luginbill/ Tri-City Herald Photo Gallery

Behind her, she could sense fear, feel the heat of the canine edging closer. Then in a heartbeat came a touch as gentle as an angel’s kiss. In that sweet moment, their unpredictable journey had begun.

“I’m not a dog person, scared to death of them other than my own,” Kim Jasper said of the stray. “When I was a little girl, I was bitten.”

But this anxiety has never stopped this Moses Lake pet lover from trying to help homeless animals over the years. Jasper has accumulated 20 pets on her 5-acre plot of land, including two rescue pigs, a llama and a lone goose, along with a few dogs in the mix — all neutered and spayed.

So when she noticed a weary border collie across the road from her place one summer, she thought it might be abandoned.

“I’d never seen him before,” Jasper said. She had arrived at home at the end of the day after a fundraiser for homeless pets. “Next morning I went out to try to get him to come to me — it was the end of June and a 100-degree-plus weekend — but he was too afraid.”

Early on she called the sheriff hoping they could rescue the stressed dog, but they were unsuccessful. She called her husband, Jan, who was working in North Dakota, and he told her to “keep trying, honey. You’ll catch him.”

Even though there was a good chance the stray could be anything but angelic, Jasper couldn’t bear to see the black and white pooch suffer in the heat. At first, she carried water and some food a distance hoping to keep the canine from the highway, splashing the cool liquid to get its attention.

“I did this early Saturday morning through late Monday night and still couldn’t get close to him,” Jasper said about moving the dish every two hours. “By then I’d brought the water and food up by our home.”

Still the border collie mix cowered near the railroad tracks just shy of Jasper’s property. Making one final effort before her workweek was to begin on Tuesday, the determined woman sat cross-legged on the ground, her back to the frightened dog.

“I sat quietly with my head down and after about 45 minutes, I felt a breath over my right shoulder,” Jasper said. “And he slid his head down my arm and licked my wrist.”

But just then a car drove up and frightened the dog, which had been abused — his eye kicked in and paws bloody from running. But the next morning early before work, Jasper again spied him. Trembling, it approached.

“When I brought him into the yard and I looked in his eyes,” Jasper said, pausing as she remembered what felt like a heaven-sent connection, “I’ve never seen that look in my life, and I thought, ‘I can’t move him on.’ ”

But during the couple’s long distance conversation that night, her husband firmly rejected the idea of taking on another homeless animal.

“I said, ‘He has a look’ and Jan said, ‘No he doesn’t!’ ” Kim Jasper said with a smile, recalling his clear-cut feelings. “He said, ‘Honey, you’ll find him a good home.’ ”

Even though Jasper was very drawn to the dog, almost a spiritual connection, she totally understood the logic about not taking on one more pet — another mouth to feed. In agreement, the couple said their goodbyes across the miles.

Then in the wee hours of the morning, the landline rang. It couldn’t be Jan; he always called her bedside cell at 7 or 8 in the morning. As Jasper raced to the phone, her mind reeled at unexpected news.

” ‘Honey, I want you to keep that dog.’ ” Jasper recalled her husband’s shocking words, how he said he was restless and couldn’t sleep all night. And then he had added, ” ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this.’ ”

It was a decision that would be easy to regret: veterinarian bills, a dog constantly escaping from the yard, handmade outdoor furniture torn to shreds and more.

“Nobody wants the front of their house chewed off and it was noticeable,” Jasper said about the 12 feet of ripped siding. “I told Jan on the phone that there’s damage, but when he got home he never said a word.”

It was Jan Jasper’s first time to meet Ruckus, who had been aptly named. But Kim’s mom saw the dog’s goodness the moment she met it.

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“She said, ‘I have chills, Kim. I think an angel gave you this dog,’ ” Kim Jasper said. “At the time I laughed and said, ‘I don’t think angels do stuff like that Mom, angels are good!’ ”

While Jasper labored with her 8-month-old pet in obedience training, her husband returned to the Midwest to work. By early spring Ruckus was invited into beginner agility classes where Jasper said they were the “class clowns.” By September, the pair had made some progress.

“The next morning Jan said to me, ‘Honey, I’m so proud of you and that darned dog running around out there,’ ” Jasper said.

It’s an image she holds close as she and Ruckus continue to train and have earned six American Kennel Club titles in two seasons.

But Jan Jasper isn’t sitting nearby to cheer for the pair. On Oct. 25, 2013, less than a year after adopting Ruckus, this father and husband died suddenly of a blood clot, a day Kim said, “Our lives changed in the blink of an eye.”

Grief beyond measure, each day was eclipsed by tears. But slowly over time a path to healing emerged.

“God knew what he was doing when he sent me this border collie,” Jasper said, referring to how the agility practices and competitions have given her focus since her husband’s death. “I do think Ruckus is an angel.”

An angel that had to earn his wings.

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