“You could just see the gratitude in his eyes … he was just at total peace.”
Animals have always had a way of finding Calvin Tucker, ever since his very first rescue in 2017. A little gray kitten showed up outside his workplace looking for help, and though Tucker didn’t even like cats at the time, something about the cat moved him.
“The way he looked at me, it touched my heart. So I went back inside and got some crackers and fed them to him,” Tucker told The Dodo. “The next day, when I got there, he was waiting for me at 7 a.m.”
Tucker went on to adopt the cat, whom he named Henry, and has since rescued 123 cats and numerous other animals as well as spending seven days a week feeding feral cat colonies.
Tucker’s sixth sense for helping animals kicked in once again last September when he got a feeling that someone needed his help. “It was Friday evening, and I was heading home and for whatever reason, something just spoke to me and told me to get off the expressway about six exits before my home,” Tucker said. “When I got off the freeway and turned on the main highway, I saw Wrinkles immediately. He was in the middle of the road, he was scared, cars were coming, honking at him.”
Tucker pulled over and used a can of food to lure the frightened dog to the side of the road. “I sat there with him for about 15 to 20 minutes,” Tucker said. “He was in bad condition. About 98 percent of his hair was gone and the only thing you saw were wrinkles.”
Tucker brought the dog to a foster home where they gave him a bath. The next morning, he picked up the pup and drove him to the vet.
Wrinkles had severe mange, a fever, parasites and worms — but despite everything, the young dog was still so loving.
“He laid on the table and we just looked into each other’s eyes and the only thing I saw was that he was happy to be off the streets,” Tucker said. “You could just see the gratitude in his eyes the way he looked at me — he was just at total peace.”
Wrinkles stayed at the veterinary hospital over the weekend to receive treatment and then went to a foster home to begin his long road to recovery.
“The foster said that he was the sweetest dog that they had ever fostered,” Tucker said. “He got along excellent from day one with her other fosters, he was running around and playing with them and enjoying himself.”
It took six months for Wrinkles’ fur to grow back, but eventually, his wrinkles were replaced with a glossy black coat.
Tucker got in touch with his friends at Two By Two Animal Rescue in Helena, Alabama, and convinced them to help Wrinkles find the family he deserved.
And it didn’t take long for the loving dog to make a connection: “They did a home visit and the people came out and met him and when they met him it was just love at first sight, both ways,” Tucker said.
Now, it’s hard to say who is more pleased — Wrinkles or his loving parents. And it’s all thanks to Tucker deciding to take the long way home.
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