Carole Sanders Legacy of Love

By Nita Burgoon

From dirt-poor beginnings, Carole Sanders achieved quite a legacy, as 40-year successful career as a "stewardess" (she didn't like being called Flight Attendant) in the golden age of flying 1960's to 2001, to being a pioneer in animal rescue in Texas, establishing the first domestic lifetime animal sanctuary to be accredited nationally, and hero

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nita Burgoon
• Release date: Mar 14, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869252241

Book preview

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the many, many animals who crossed paths with Carole Mama Dog Sanders in her lifetime:

Carole gave her all to make your lives better, even if she couldn’t save you, she tried her best…and always, always thought of your safety and well-being first and foremost, even above her own life…know that you were loved, even if just for a few minutes before you crossed the Rainbow Bridge…you were loved, beyond measure and for all eternity…

Very Unusual Photo:

Carole Sanders at rest!

CAROLE SANDERS 1939-2018

Founder of Animal Angels lifetime sanctuary for dogs and others

WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT

Born in Fort Worth, Texas on July 22, 1939, Carole Ann Sanders became bigger than life, as a Stewardess for American Airlines back in the golden era of public transportation, a career she absolutely loved for 40 years.

She often said that if American Airlines ever found out she loved her career so much that she would do it for free, they might stop paying her. Carole was loved by almost everyone who ever met her, with her big Texas drawl, colorful language, quick wit and a great big laugh. She loved the adventure of being a Stewardess, meeting all of the different public figures and just plain ol’ folks, too. During the Vietnam conflict era, she volunteered for duty transporting troops over and back, recounting stories about the fresh-faced boys going over, then seeing those same haggard men returning, sometimes crying and holding on to her for dear life. Carole would tend to them, cry with them, and just listen to their stories…they all had stories…

But her real love and avocation, was rescuing animals, mostly dogs who had been dumped along a dirt road out in the country, most needing medical care, food, water and a nice warm bed. Others were too far gone by the time she was able to rescue them, that the only humane thing to do was allow them a loving and peaceful crossing in her arms, as she gently held them and assured them that they were loved, finally, and were going to a place known as the Rainbow Bridge. She also told them that she would be along directly and to watch for her arrival sometime in the future. That day in the future was January 6, 2018.

What a grand reunion that must have been, with the thousands of Carole’s rescued dogs, horses, and every other kind of rescued animal greeting her again.

This book is a collection of Carole Ann Sanders’ writings, in her own words, arranged in chronological order, from the late 1990’s to sometime around 2008, when she had less time to devote to her writings, and help came along to work on her stories with her.

Additional stories about Carole and her rescues have been provided by Nita Burgoon, the writer/publisher.

In the pages of this book, you will experience sharing of the triumphs of the rescue community, as well as the heartbreaks, the ones who couldn’t be saved in time, others who had been mistreated, left to starve, have litter after litter of puppies, then just thrown out like trash once their money-making days ceased.

Carole, at nine years old, was given a dalmatian dog by her beloved Uncle John. Carole named him Pepper and thus began the legendary life of rescuing animals.

Carole Sanders was fearless in the face of those who hurt animals, a trailblazer in the world of animal rescue, the first domestic animal lifetime sanctuary to be accredited by American Sanctuary Association, and the epitome of a true Texan who didn’t mince words in the act of helping those poor animals who had nowhere else to go, or anybody else to love.

From soaring high above the clouds as a stewardess, to belly crawling under abandoned shacks to retrieve litters of abandoned puppies, Carole did it all with finesse, grit, determination, and more than a few choice words for those who had the misfortune to be found mistreating animals. She would stand 5′4″ toe-to-toe, all 110 pounds of her, and did not blink nor back down from any encounter with the waste of skin as she referred to the rudest of the rude bubba who crossed her path, on her mission to save an animal. Countless times, Carole was threatened with bodily harm, as she would put on her best stewardess smile and invite them to go to hell, or worse. Her Texan vocabulary was both colorful and genuine, lacking nothing that she would not say if need be to get her point across, when it came to animals and their welfare, a real-life hero to so many animals and the people who love them.

In this book, you will laugh, maybe shed a few tears, as you experience the realities of rescue life from the one who couldn’t just look away or leave a dog in danger.

Some people loved to malign what Carole did, how she did it and why, often being accused of stealing dogs…nothing could be further from the truth. She would walk into a busy road, stop traffic in all directions, to save a dog from being run over, maybe already injured, or even already hit and dying in her arms…she was considered a saint by so many, and a she-devil by others who let their dogs ride in the back of a scorching hot truck bed, getting quite an earful about the laws regarding such animal cruelty.

Just a note about the rescue community in general who have been engaged in the practice of saving animals tend to suffer from compassion fatigue that comes with the territory…rescue heroes come in all kinds of people, and we all owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

It’s all for the love of animals, a dog is a mirror image of God, some say.

Rest in peace, Carole Mama Dog Sanders

YOU LIVED A LIFE THAT MATTERED.

Note about the pictures in this book: long before Carole had an iPhone, she used a Motorola camera and a flip-phone…the cameras were either run over on the road or lost in a rescue, so the doggie pics in this book are not the dogs in the stories. However, all of them are dogs Carole did rescue at one time or another, all saved from the same kinds of situations described here in this book.

PART ONE

STORIES OF THE ANIMALS AND TALES OF THE TAILS

IN MEMORY OF MONDAY MAY

It was a spring day in 1986. I had a doctors’ appointment in Dallas, and I was on my way home. The area I was in is known as Cedar Springs and for years after I started flying, this was home. On this particular day, I opted to go down Cedar Springs Ave. past some of the places I used to live. As I got to a light, I looked ahead and lo and behold, there was a very skinny black dog just having a fine time, romping and playing with another older dog right in the middle of the intersection.

I had just had surgery on one of my elbows and had my arm in a cast, so I didn’t know how I was going to get these two playmates out of harm’s way. As luck would have it, a couple of young men were walking along the street and offered to help. The older dog took off, but the little black pup came right up to me and the boys picked her up and put her in my truck and off we went. Yes, you guessed it, it was on a Monday, and it was May so naturally, she was then and forever, Monday May.

She was so thin you could see every bone in her little body. I guestimated that she was probably six to eight months old.

As you might imagine, I already had six dogs, and although there wasn’t a limit on the number of animals one could have in the area I lived, I decided to find her a home.

After she was spayed, vaccinated and began to put on much needed weight, I began to look for her a home. A young man fell in love with her and she was adopted by him.

Unfortunately, he was not as responsible as I thought and she got out of his yard some way and was hit by a car. He called me and I told him to take her to my vet, which he did.

Needless to say, I told him she would not be returned to him if she survived. Well, survive she did with apparently no visible damage until one morning about a week later when she couldn’t raise her head. We weren’t as lucky as we thought. There were several discs in her neck that had slipped out of place, causing a great deal of pain. She was put in a cast from her neck to about halfway down her body. She was still growing; thankfully, the treatment worked because she grew out of her cast after several weeks.

When it came off, she was good as new.

Today, November 19, 2000, Monday

May crossed the Rainbow Bridge. She was a wonderful animal and she is and always will be missed. She is the first to be buried at our new sanctuary. Her job on this earth was to let all the animals know how things were done and that if I raised my voice, I was just trying to be heard over all the barking. She also was in charge of letting me know when everyone was ready to come in by standing back from the others and issuing a very deep, loud, steady bark until I did my job and opened the door.

The decision to allow my Monday to cross over was not easy. Loving an animal puts us all at risk of heartbreak sooner or later. I can’t imagine not having loved her though and while it hurt to lose her, she will always be in my heart and someday, all the animals that have gone on before will once again walk by my side.

SPECKLES STORY

Speckles came to us through a friend that called and said she belonged to a lady who was going to have to be put into a nursing home, and Speckles had been making a nuisance of herself because the lady couldn’t keep her in the yard. The local police (we won’t embarrass them by naming a town) were going to take her to the dump and shoot her. You see, that’s the way ignorant, uncaring good ol boys handle things in this particular part of the country. ANIMAL ANGELS to the rescue. We agreed to take her and care for her. Needless to say, she was not spayed, had never had vaccinations, and had already been shot in one of her front legs. She’s just a pretty little ol’ speckled dog that is among the millions born every year because some people just let their animals breed at will, resulting in untold numbers of puppies that come into a world where there is just no place for them.

Speckles will stay at ANIMAL ANGELS until someone opens their heart and home to her. Until then, she will continue to be loved and cared for with all the others like her that have no place else to go. All are welcome to spend their lives with us. It is our gain to be able to say we were graced by their presence in our lives.

SPECKLES, IN MEMORY OF

In July of 1994, and while we were still in Southlake, Texas, I received a call from a lady that had rescued a little dog she found running down the side of Hwy. 199, the Jacksboro Hwy., in Azle, Texas. This was not the place he needed to be and evidentially, he knew it because when she had barely come to a stop and opened her car door, he jumped right in. She lived in an apartment that did not allow pets and since it was so hot, she wouldn’t leave him outside, so she began calling around to find somewhere she could take him that he wouldn’t be put to sleep. She found Animal Angels and we agreed to take him in.

Scottie appeared to be a cross between a Sheltie and probably a terrier of some kind. He only weighed about 12 lbs. He had a short, brownish tan or cinnamon coat.

Very cute, personable, and extremely loving. Oh yes, as you might suspect, he was not neutered, but a trip to the vet would take care of that. The vet guessed his age to be around five or six