"This is amazing, thanks for the help, think that's the quickest we got a load unloaded and settled" Tahlia said in appreciation as they were finishing of the BBQ Sonny had cooked
"Well as the saying goes many hands make light work" Trent said helping himself to some more food
"So what's the go with the horse auctions" Brock asked, he'd been a little disturbed by the state some of the horses were in
"We purchase the ones we can, they're the cast aways no one wants, they end up in the slaughter pipeline and are exported to be killed for their meat" Tahlia said
"These were originally someone's pets" Sonny said
"I know, its disgusting really, the way these kill buyers can just scoop these horses up, as I said we purchase what we can, bring them here, the ones we rehome we do, but as you saw, some are to far gone by time we get them, so we do the last act of kindness and humanely euthanize the ones that are suffering. You, little Miss Zah, you done an amazing job helping us today, thank you, I know it wasn't very nice to see" Tahlia said to Zalie commenting how the little girl had kept herself together witnessing the whole ordeal, she was definitely a future rescuer
"They were in pain, aunty Laura did the right thing" Zalie said without hesitating
"Zah's been around rescues with me since she was 2" Laura said to Tahlia, proud of her little niece
"People shouldn't allow their animals to get like that" Zalie said
"You're right they shouldn't" Tahlia said with a smile
"Mummy, can I take Cerbs and Pepper to see the puppies and kittens before we go" Zalie asked looking at Jess
"Cause you can, if its okay with uncle Brock" Jess said looking at Brock who just nodded his head in agreement knowing Pepper would like to check on them before she left
"Do you think we could adopt one of the kittens" Zalie asked hopefully
"Possibly, but you have to have one that can handle being around Cerbs, and Pepper visits our house a bit as well so we got to think about her" Jess said
"Ah ha" Zalie said excitedly
"I wouldn't mind checking the little ones out as well before we leave" Sonny said standing up to excuse himself, knowing that the horses he helped with today were going to end up being killed for their meat after being someone's pets didn't sit to well with him, especially knowing his dad would have been disgusted at the sight himself
"Don't tell me you're thinking of adopting as well Sonny" Tahlia said to him
"Not possible I'm afraid, as much as I would love to, we're away 300 nights a year, couldn't take the guy on the plane each time I get sent out" Sonny said following Zalie and the pooches to where Tahlia had set up to house them, she took in all animals here, and would transfer some to other organisations if she needed, she'd already posted some pictures of the group however and had received expressions of interest to adopt, mostly to horse properties, so she decided to keep the group with her to get them acclimatised to farm life around other animals
"And sometimes we only get a few hours notice we're being sent out" Jess said, this was the nature of the job they lived, like animal rescue not everyone was capable of doing it
"You need a 24/7 boarding facility you can access, how are you planning on keeping Cerbs busy with his retirement" Tahlia commented
"We're currently getting his certification done to turn him into a support dog for Zah, then he'll be able to go everywhere with her, she's got a variety of health issues she's dealing with, has recently had one big surgery and is due for another one in 2 days time, having Cerbs with her helps comfort her" Luca said to Tahlia, he'd decided that he was going to talk with Jay and set up a regular monthly donation to help Tahlia purchase the horses from auctions
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"Well today's the big day" Jess said helping Zalie unpack her bag in the hospital room she would be staying in for the next week, it had become a rule that Zalie could ask for private mummy time whenever she wanted providing Jess was home and not required on base, Luca was still back in the hotel room they had booked going over some paperwork with Jay and Alie while Jess had taken Zalie to the hospital to get settled in
"I'm glad you're here" Zalie said giving her mum a hug
"So am I, next time I leave will be to go on my big deployment" Jess said returning the gesture
"Do you know where you're going" Zalie asked
"Syria, thats where mummy Sara grew up" Jess said, her dad had warned her that Zalie would want to ask questions
"Do you have other family that live there still to" Zalie asked
"Possibly, but most of my family moved away from there a long time ago" Jess said, as far as she knew her immediate family weren't there anymore, but it didn't rule out the possibility of their being other distant relatives still being there
"Because of war" Zalie asked
"Mostly, but I had some who moved before then as well, they moved because they got work in other countries" Jess said to her
"Like you did" Zalie asked
"Yeah, like I did, have you worked out what colours you want your cast to be yet" Jess said with a smile
"Ah ha, Doctor Michaela is going to do it in Eevee pattern, so my legs are going to look like Eevee" Zalie said proudly, she didn't have a favourite colour to choose, when Doctor Sambridge showed her the colours available however she noticed that they had the colours to make her legs look like Eevee so she had asked Doctor Sambridge if she could do Eevee showing her Eevee's back legs, so far Eevee had slept with her and Cerbs every night she'd been here and had gone to every hospital appointment
"Why doesn't that surprise me" Jess said with a smile
"You ready to go Zah" came the voice from the door, turning around she saw Doctor Sambridge standing there in her surgical scrubs
"Ready Doctor Michaela" Zalie said as she took her mums hand as they walked down to the theatre together, it was going to be nearly 4 months before Zalie would be able to do that again, she wanted to be able to enjoy every moment of it
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"We going up to see Zah tonight" Jason asked looking around the team room, they weren't officially due to be on base today but they wanted to get some packing done for deployment, unsurprisingly Jess had already done majority of hers the day before
"Jess suggested we wait to tomorrow, think she's 10 hours of surgery, and its going to take another 12 hours or so before the cast is fully dry" Brock said trying to recall what Laura had told him
"Since when does a cast take that long to dry" Jason asked confused looking at Trent for the information
"Its a double hip spica Jase, its going to be running from her toes to just under her armpits" Trent said explaining the sheer magnitude of size of the cast Zalie would be wearing
"That's a lot of plaster" Clay said
"Yeah it is, she's not going to be doing much for those 8 weeks, they'll cut out space so they can access her tube, and she can use the toilet, but everything else will be in plaster" Trent said, Zalie was going to be needing help to even sit up
"Naima warned the kids already the cast was going to be big, she said that Zalie was going to be using a wheelchair for a bit and can't go swimming while she has it on, so don't ask to go over to swim" Ray said to the group
"Its only 8 weeks she's got the cast for, Laura already said first thing she wants to do when she gets it of is go swimming, think Laura was going to let her have Meelah and RJ over the night it comes of for a celebrationary swim in the pool" Brock said
"So what's your plans tonight" Trent asked
"Laura and I are heading to the horse auction to help Tahlia, the last one they had security issues with one of the kill buyers, one of Tahlia's volunteers got physically assaulted and had a knife pulled on her, because they brought so many horses. Jess and Luca suggested dividing the efforts by having a few extra buyers go to purchase the horses on behalf of the rescue, so its not just the rescue against the kill buyers, we are taking Cerbs and Pep as well for added protection" Brock said filling the group in on his plans, after he'd found out what goes on he told Laura to let him know when they were going to one, he'd tag along for extra support, pulling a knife on someone was not okay in his mind
"Got room for one more Brockoli" Sonny asked the handler feeling the same way
"Sure Sonny" Brock said knowing there was no way they could intimidate Sonny away from a fight if someone started something
"Count me in as well" Clay said, he was supposed to be hanging with Stella but when he mentioned to her what happened to the horses she had gotten furious as she worked out one of her dads friends was a kill buyer himself, and she'd actually been fed horse meat as a child. She said she wanted a chance to help
"Me to" Jason said
"Got nothing better to do" Trent pipped up
"Metal is rounding up a few extra hands for security as well, think the plan is to send the slaughter trucks home empty tonight, trying to get together what we can in donations, not leaving anyone behind tonight for the kill buyers, even if they need to be given the final act of kindness" Brock said detailing Tahlia's plans for tonight, this was going to be the first time she went to a auction and had the actual support to achieve this goal, she had no intention of wasting it
"Sounds like a good plan to me" Jason said smiling, he knew a few people he was planning on asking as well, in the guise of it being a 'team training exercise' in working with the local population