Dr. Chris DeRienzo wrote a blog post after the death of his dog, Bartlet, who was adopted from the Orange County Animal Shelter in 2005. After a couple weeks, DeRienzo met his goal of 1,000 blog views and hopes that Bartlet’s story will continue on. Staff writer Sophia Wilhelm asked DeRienzo about his relationship with Bartlet.
The Daily Tar Heel: What made you decide to adopt a dog at the Orange County Animal Shelter?
Chris DeRienzo: It was February of 2005 when I adopted Bartlet and I was in my early 20s. I was in medical school and had always wanted a dog my entire life. There are some decisions you make in life where there’s no right time for it, you just want it and you do it. I was living in an apartment, I was working 16-hour days, then I said, ‘‘Screw it, I’m going to adopt a dog and I’m going to make it work and it’s going to be awesome.’’ I didn’t have much of a plan other than I’m going to love this thing and it’s going to love me and we’re going to go from there.
DTH: What about Bartlet stood out?
CD: I vividly remember going to the pound in Orange County and just walking through and he had this blazing white fur on his chest and was just jumping up against the door of his little crate. He was small, they thought he was a puppy, just 2- or 3-months-old. And they said, “Yeah we just found him roaming the streets, we have no idea what kind of a dog he is, no idea what kind of a mix he is.” I don’t know, it just worked.
DTH: What do you know about Bartlet’s life before the shelter?
CD: When you adopt a dog from a pound, some of their history shows through in their behaviors. My guess is he was the product of dogs who had just found each other and mated in the streets. He must have had a really hard time finding water, because for the 13 years that I owned him he would, whenever you put a water dish down, he tiptoed up to it like it was going to jump up and bite him or something. He would drink from puddles and deck water.
DTH: How did Bartlet impact your life?
CD: In the time since I adopted him and now, I met my wife, graduated from medical school, got married, started a family. We moved from the tiny apartment to my wife’s townhouse to six acres in the middle of Efland, to where we live now in a neighborhood in Asheville. I think it would be fair to say that he impacted my life more than almost any other being with a heartbeat has or will for the rest of my days. There’s something to be said about the unconditional love that a pet can give you. I think the thing that I didn’t appreciate until he died was how much of my life I spent with him.
