Charlene Burgan introduces Smokey to Bibb Bailey, right. Terry Ketron photo.

by MIKE STILL

WISE — Tears welled up as Smoky got in dog lovers’ eyes.

Smoky, a 2-year-old schnauzer-poodle mix — a “schnoodle” — became the lead character in his own Horatio Alger story Monday as his Lee County rescuers and a New York City actress met at Lonesome Pine Airport to complete an adoption process that started in February with Smoky’s picture on the Internet.

Billie Sue Bruce and Charlene Burgan of the animal rescue group Save Just One brought Smoky to the airport to meet his new owner, Bibb Bailey, who flew in with her husband, Shawn Coyne, and her parents after two months of waiting and proving her ability and willingness to care for the former stray.

“He was picked up by the animal warden as a stray in a mobile home park,” Bruce said as she and Smoky waited for the family’s plane to arrive. “He was all matted and starving and had been rummaging around the park. We got him treated for worms, got all his shots and had him neutered.”

Bruce said Smoky still shows signs of timidity but has improved from when he was first found.

“He’s a loving little dog and he’s very lucky,” Burgan said.

Bruce said Save Just One — affiliated with Richmond-based Save Our Shelters — not only tries to rescue and care for stray animals, but also encourages spaying and neutering of pets as a way to avoid animal shelter overpopulation.

“Seven million to 12 million animals a year are killed in our nation’s shelters,” Bruce said. “Don’t go to a breeder or a puppy mill when you can adopt a rescued animal.”

“I tried to talk (Bailey) out of this dog at first when she called,” Bruce recalled. “She called me again, and I still wasn’t convinced. I ignored her e-mails, and she kept e-mailing me.”

Smoky’s photograph had been placed on Save Just One’s Web site — www.geocities.com/suzza7 — after his February recovery from the Lee County animal shelter, and Bruce said Bailey told her she had seen the dog there.

A week ago, Bruce said, Bailey called again to say she would be flying up from her parents’ Key West, Fla., home back to New York and could stop in the area to meet Smoky.

“I’d lived in New York 16 years, and I told her let’s have a good New York conversation,” Bruce said.

That conversation included Bailey explaining how she lived near a “doggie spa” where Smoky could be cared for while she was at work, and that she and her husband had also bought a house with a yard large enough for the schnoodle.

“‘You could have any dog you want,’” Bruce said she told Bailey. “‘I just fell in love with his picture,’ she told me.”

Bailey, Coyne and Peyton and Bill Buddinger arrived at Lonesome Pine in the family’s Citation jet before lunch, and Bailey ran across the airport hardstand with a new leash and collar in hand into the airport lobby.

“Are you going to miss him?” Bailey asked Bruce as she kneeled and Smoky licked her face. The Buddingers followed with their own schnoodle, Tyler, and the two dogs got acquainted as the group watched.

“I wanted this kind of dog, and I didn’t want one from a breeder,” Bailey said as she petted and rubbed Smoky. “My parents owned a schnoodle, and they’re wonderful dogs. Tyler gets along with anyone.”

“I think it’s terrific,” Coyne — a Greenwich Village book publisher — said as he watched Bailey and Smoky. “She’s been looking at pictures of him since February. We just got a house in the city with a yard. It’s a big step for us. We wanted to get a dog before we have a child.”

The Buddingers each said they were excited about the newest member of their family before they boarded their plane for the trip to New York City, and Bailey added with a laugh that Smoky would be getting a haircut when he arrived at his new home.

Bruce said persons wanting to adopt a rescued animal from Save Just One are required to go through a background check to make sure they can care properly for the animal, and an adoption fee to cover the necessary medical care is charged.

“I can’t keep them all,” Bruce said as she watched Bailey and Smoky with moist eyes. “If I did, I couldn’t save more. ... That’s what it’s all about — to save them and give them a good home. We need more volunteers and donations. If someone’s willing to donate even a bag of dog food, that helps.”

For more information on Save Just One or Save Our Shelters, call (540)346-4256.