Dr. Brinkley saw a busy schedule stretching ahead of him for the afternoon, which made the likelihood of returning to the shelter to volunteer his services less likely.
So, when his receptionist informed him of a cancellation, he didn't question the fortunate timing. "I just got off the phone with Mrs. Webster," the receptionist told the busy vet. "She sounded quite upset. Their dog Shaggy disappeared last night."
"I'm going to take advantage of this opening in my schedule," the doctor told his receptionist. "Put me out for an hour."
Twenty minutes later, he walked into the shelter. He heard dogs barking at the back of the shelter where the holding pens were located. He wasn't too surprised to find the sheepdog still among the facility's canine residents.
He walked over to the front of the pen and spoke to the sheepdog, who ambled over to the fence in a friendly mood. "You've definitely improved since yesterday," said Dr. Brinkley. He noticed that a fringe of fur fell over the dog's eyes, so he brushed it out of the way. "You sure are a shaggy fellow..."
Suddenly, the barely listened to conversation with the receptionist popped back into his thoughts. With an audible gasp, he removed his phone. As soon as his receptionist picked up the phone, he asked without any formalities the name of the clients with the missing dog.
"Mr. and Mrs. Bill Webster," the woman said. "Mr. Webster's a president of the local bank."
"Do you happen to know the breed of their dog?"
"I can look it up in the files," the receptionist said. "Give me one moment."
The vet looked down at the sheepdog. "I may be a step closer to solving your mystery, boy," he said.
The receptionist returned and confirmed the doctor's suspicion that the missing dog might be a sheepdog. "Do you have a phone number for the Websters? I think I have found their missing dog."
When he began dialing the number provided him, he scratched the sheepdog behind its ears. "What a piece of luck, eh boy?"
Bill Webster's secretary screened most of his calls, but when Dr. Brinkley introduced himself as the veterinarian for the Websters, she put his call through to her boss.
"Mr. Webster, this is Lance Brinkley," he opened.
"Dr. Brinkley, this is a surprise," Bill Webster said. "Did you not receive my wife's call? It's the damnedest thing, but Shaggy vanished yesterday."
"Yes, so I've been told," the vet responded, and then proceeded to inform Mr. Webster that he was standing at the holding pens at the local animal shelter. "I think I've found your missing pooch," the vet announced.
After a few other questions to nail down the sheepdog's identity, the veterinarian explained that the sheepdog had been hit by a car.
"Is he all right?"
"He was very lucky," the vet answered.
"Thank god," Bill Webster said. "My youngest son's very attached to that dog."
"He's made a full recovery," the doctor reassured Mr. Webster. "Oh, by the way? What was I seeing Shaggy for?"
Bill Webster cleared his throat. "Well, my wife had insisted that I agree to have him fixed."
"Well, if that's all, I can go ahead with the scheduled procedure," the vet said. "I perform the procedure here at the shelter quite frequently, so they have everything I'll need. You can come by after work later this evening, signs some papers with the shelter staff, and take Shaggy home with you."
Bill Webster decided not to mention he had a golf game to get to. "That sounds perfect, Dr. Brinkley," he said. "I really appreciate everything."
After the call ended, Dr. Brinkley went in search of the shelter's director to inform him of the new wrinkle in the sheepdog's story.
"Well, that some coincidence!" The director agreed. He also readily agreed that the vet could use the shelter's facilities for the procedure.
"If you could get one of your employees to bring the dog to the operating room, I will be getting things set up," the vet said.
As he walked down the corridor he glanced at his watch and noticed it was only one in the afternoon. The original appointment had been for two, so the dog was actually going to undergo the procedure slightly earlier than expected.
A few moments later, an employee with heavy gloves and using a noose on the end of a long aluminum pole to maneuver the reluctant dog into the room. The dog, not trusting the employee, had resisted until it saw the friendly doctor, who quickly freed him from the choking restraint.
"There," he said. "That's better, right?"
The dog licked his hand in a show of trust.
The doctor, with his years of experience, swooped the bulky dog into his arms and lifted him onto the exam table. He kept speaking in a calm voice that helped keep the dog reassured. "Now, there may be a tiny stick," he said as he produced a needle.
The dog didn't react to the slight sting as the doctor sedated him ahead of the procedure.
"And the best part is, you're going to get to go home to your family," the doctor said as the sheepdog lost consciousness.