Bonnie Blue: Loving all creatures great and small

“When I was 3 years old, Grandpa Blue gave me my first dog,” recounts Bonnie Blue of Bloomfield. “His name was Adlai — in honor of Adlai Stevenson. I have been a dog-lover ever since.”

Blue shares her comfortable home with a brood of six dogs and three cats. While the group varies in size and temperament, they all share a common thread — each one has a history; a story of how he or she came to be a part of the “Blue Bunch.”

“People say they don’t want to get a pet because they’ll just die,” says Blue, “but what they don’t think about is that the dog, cat, etc. will live and die, anyway, so how lucky are we to be able to give them a loving, comfortable life?”

Bonnie Blue shares her life and sofa with Sarah Sue, Beaumont and Molly Ann. Sammy rests on his mama's lap.DAR/Nancy Nelson Vines

Molly Ann, a Yorkie, is the oldest and first addition after Blue returned to Bloomfield eight years ago.

“Molly was about five or six when I got her,” Blue recalls. “Her owners had begun to travel quite a bit, and she was spending a great deal of time being boarded. I heard about her through a mutual friend, and offered to take her. The owners were happy to find her another home.”

Next came Daisy, a feral kitten added around seven years ago.

“I managed to capture Daisy,” Blue says, “and brought her into the house. About a year later, I decided she needed a companion, and found Danny at the Humane Society.”

Blue thought her family was complete, but then four years ago, she was elected to the Bloomfield City Council. One of her responsibilities was to act as liaison to the Department of Public Safety.

“The city pound/shelter is part of the police department,” Blue explains. “I decided to take a pro-active role in trying to make it a no-kill facility. Since our pound is small, with only two runs, I would foster the extras, and then try to find permanent homes, or shelters that would take them.”

Blue says that she often would transport homeless dogs to rescue facilities, or assist in transporting. Through this endeavor, she worked with out-of-state rescues, as well.

Sammy and Sally Grace were rescued from Illinois.

“I saw Sammy online at a rescue in Anna,” says Blue, “so I went to get him. While there, I was told about Sally Grace, a silky puppy-mill mama.”

Blue goes on to explain, “Sally was in such sad shape. People just don’t understand what those puppy-mill mother dogs go through. I knew by looking at her that no one would take her, so I had to bring her home.”

Blue adds that Molly had a very loving, luxurious life her last four years, and by the time she passed away last year, seemed to have recovered from the trauma of her previous existence.

Sarah Sue was a rescue from the Bloomfield pound.

“It was the Fourth-of-July,” Blue recalls, “and I emptied the pound because I knew the dogs would be terrified by all the fireworks. Sarah was so timid — probably from abuse — and was heartworm positive. She was not the type of dog that usually gets adopted, so I decided to keep her.”

The beagle Lilly Lou was a lady of the streets.

“We kept getting calls about Lilly,” Blue says. “She just wandered the streets and would be walking in the road. She was so old, I just decided to keep her.

“I didn’t think she would live very long because of her age, but” Blue laughs, “she must have gotten a new lease on life because I’ve had her about a year, and she seems to be doing very well!”

Beaumont was an orphan, hiding out in a friend’s garage.

“Rosemary Walker found Beaumont,” says Blue, “and she asked me to find him a good home. That was three years ago, and I think he would say he has a good home here.”

A third cat, Oliver, was added to the family three years ago.

“I was uptown and saw this tiny, tiny ball of fur sitting behind the tire of a parked car. I asked among the business owners, and no one knew where he belonged. What was I to do?” she asks with a grin.

The youngest of the clan is Charlie. He was a 100-Mile-Yard-Sale find.

“Last Memorial Day weekend,” Blue recalls, “I received a call from someone who was selling a pet carrier in a yard sale. Unbeknownst to the seller, someone had put a puppy inside the carrier.”

Blue goes on to explain that she brought the puppy home to foster, but quickly changed her mind.

“Charlie was young — maybe six weeks, but no older than that,” Blue says. “It was obvious early-on that he was very smart and could be trained, so I kept him.”

Charlie quickly became a vibrant addition to the mix.

Blue says that as the Bloomfield pound has progressed, and changes have been made, she is not quite so involved in the pound as she was a few years ago.

“Someone assists with sheltering now,” Blue explains, “because with six dogs and three cats, it’s a bit crowded here.”

Blue adds that the Bloomfield pound/shelter is trying to handle its own placements, and that the police department screens those who seek to adopt from the facility. Blue further explains that all dog pounds in the state are governed by the Missouri Department of Agriculture, and that regular inspections are made to ensure that the mandated standards-of-operation are being met.

Blue advises those who seek to adopt rescues, to research ways to acclimate a rescue into a new environment. She also cautions would-be adopters to have patience and an open mind.

“Many times,” Blue laments, “people take rescues without realizing that often the dogs are damaged; maybe not physically, but emotionally. They need time to heal and to adjust to their new life.

“Those are the dogs that come back after a few days because the new owners aren’t prepared to give their new pet the time and attention it needs,” Blue adds.

Bonnie Blue grew up in Bloomfield, where her family owned Buck’s Store. She graduated from Bloomfield High School in 1966, and spent the next 40 plus years living in various parts of the country, and traveling extensively overseas. She returned to Southeast Missouri eight years ago to be near her mother who lives in Cape Girardeau. Her son David Worley lives in Kansas.