THE INDEPENDENT (Robertsdale, Alabama) 21 October 08 Snake claims Loxley dogs (Donna Riley-Lein)

Loxley, Ala.: It was a routine afternoon at Pat Henry's trim Loxley home. Henry had arrived home first, ahead of her niece, Brandy Wallace, and she let Wallace’s three Yorkshire Terriers, Hydee, Macy and Toby out into the fenced front yard while she went to see to the foster dogs she cares for.

The dogs and Pat Henry's niece, Brandy Wallace, Macy, Toby and Hydee.

"My niece works for Ace Hardware at the distribution center," said Henry. "Which ever of got home first lets the Yorkies out in the front."

Hydee was the mother of Macy and Toby and according to Henry, Macy and Toby were born at the house. The dogs were part of the household, and to say the two women doted on their pets is probably an understatement.

While Henry fed, watered and "played some tennis ball" with the foster dogs, the three Yorkies were supposed to have some fun outside time in their yard.

That was until Henry heard them barking.

"They always bark at the Dalmatian next door," said Henry, "but something was different. You could just tell"

Concerned, Henry went to check on the dogs.

"Macy was lying by the door," said Henry, a retired Air Force Reserve master sergeant. "She tried to get up, but couldn't She was bleeding from the head."

Henry says that she thought "a big dog" had managed to bite the Yorkie through the wire fence. She called her veterinarian's office and made arrangements to bring Macy in right away.

"I was worried about shock," recalled Henry, Toby sitting in her lap. "I wrapped her up in a towel to keep her warm.

Henry went to bring the other two dogs in, and while Toby was fine, Hydee was lying in the yard, unconscious, also bleeding from the head.

Henry still says she thought both dogs had been attacked by another dog, and was bringing Hydee and Toby in.

"When I got to the door, I heard a click-click-click and two feet from the door, there was a rattlesnake."

Henry recalls that the snake was gray in color and was coiled up near the door. To this day, she does not know why the snake chose her porch as a resting place, and does not recall seeing one in Loxley. She's been a resident of the town since 1952, leaving only to serve in the Air Force.

"I called the vet and told them that there were two injured dogs, and it was probably snakebite," said Henry. "I don't know if I would do anything different."

While enroute to her vet in Daphne, Henry called a neighbor, Crystal Jones, and told her about the snake, asking her to have her husband shoot the reptile.

"Crystal's mother in law, Charlene, came over with a neighbor boy," said Henry.

Because the snake was on a cement porch, and concerned about a possible ricochet, Henry says the pair dispatched the snake with a garden hoe and shovel.

"I saw the snake later, and it didn't look as big as the one I saw," said Henry, admitting that fright might have made the snake on her porch look bigger to her.

"I've been told that the weather had been dry, and maybe the snake was looking for water. Some say maybe there were two snakes and they were mating," said Henry.

Henry made another call to Wallace, who had left work and was planning to do some shopping in Daphne.

"My aunt called, and I thought she had been hurt, she was crying, but she told me that my dogs had been bitten by a snake and I started crying," said Wallace in a telephone interview. Wallace rushed to the veterinarian's office, and actually beat Henry there.

"I don't know how long it took me, but I went fast," recalled Henry. "It normally takes 15-20 minutes to get there."

Henry says the staff of Jubilee Pet Hospital and Dr. Poe went right to work on the two dogs.

"They got IV fluids right away," recalled Henry. "They said right away that Macy, being a smaller dog (Henry thinks Macy was about four pounds, and Hydee weighted about 11 pounds) might not make it."

"Hydee was in pain, but she seemed to be doing better than Macy," recalled Wallace.

Despite heroic measures from the veterinarian, first Macy and then Hydee succumbed to snakebite.

"They tell me they found puncture marks on Macy," said Henry.

The women took the bodies of their pets home, and Macy and Hydee are now buried in the back yard, near where Henry buried her own dogs.

Both women say they are on alert for snakes now.

"We are putting out something the feed store says is a snake deterrent," Wallace said adding, "We walk out with Toby now. That (first) night was pretty bad. Toby started whining and looking for them."

Henry is also taking measures.

"I won't bring my trash out at night now," she said. "People should know that there are snakes in the area, and should be cautious."
Snake claims Loxley dogs

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