It was love a first sight when nine-year-old Yumecia "Meci" Currie met Blondie, a puppy golden retriever and the only canine in a cat room at the Durham, NC, Orange County Animal Shelter.

The third-grader and her grandmother, Wanda, made plans to adopt the puppy from the shelter, and although the puppy looked healthy, they were surprised a few days later when a shelter worker called to say the puppy had the parvo virus, a deadly, contagious and expensive-to-treat disease.

So, the day before they had planned to adopt Blondie, the puppy went instead to Cole Park Veterinary Clinic to begin treatment. But since the clinic closed on the weekend, they had to take Blondie to the Pets emergency clinic in Durham so treatment could continue. But before the treatment Currie said she knew Meci had to make a pivotal decision between Blondie's desperately needed care and the money she had saved for her long awaited trip to Disney World. Currie said she let Meci make the decision. But Meci didn't hesitate, Currie revealed.

"Meci said to me: `We can always go to Disney World. We can save money again,'" Currie said. "Meci is goodhearted. It showed me that much more how goodhearted she is.

They paid $400 up-front for the two-day care. Blondie's treatment added up to about $1,000.

Meci told a little girl at church about it, and the little girl said there was no way she would have kept the dog. She would have gone to Disney World," Currie said.

The news of Meci's selfless act spread around the community and an anonymous donor gave the shelter $1,000 so that Meci could go on her trip to Disney World anyway. And Midway airlines gave Meci and Currie free flights to Orlando, FL, while Walt Disney World has given them each two-day passes to their theme parks.

Now Meci looks forward to fun with Blondie and at Walt Disney World: "I just like to play and play," Meci said.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group