Today we are paying tribute to Alabi, Tissa Salter’s beloved 14-year old Scottie who just lost her battle with severe health issues. Alabi was the bravest Scottie ever for miraculously surviving over a year in China during the COVID lockdown while separated from Tissa, who had returned for a vacation in the US, only to not be allowed to return to China.
Tissa paid for Alabi to stay in a kennel in China the entire time and there were all sorts of problems: Alabi’s health issues, a flood, a kennel employee stealing Alabi and not knowing where she was, and Alabi finally showing signs of being separated for so long. Every attempt Tissa made to return to China was thwarted and there were so many glitches and disappointments that it seemed that Alabi would be stuck in China forever, but Tissa shared her story online and hundreds of Alabi’s angels rallied to undertake the process of getting Alabi shipped to the US.
It was truly a miracle that Alabi survived all that she went through to finally be reunited with Tissa and that she recovered from her long ordeal to once again live a happy life with her Scottie mom. Tissa documented Alabi’s story in a series of three books: Black Dog Down, Black Dog Stay, and Black Dog Home, which are detailed accounts of her separation from Alabi and all that they went through. All three books are a tribute to the amazing fortitude of a little Scottie, who after surviving an incredibly tough journey several years ago, sadly became very ill last week so that Tissa had to make the excruciating decision to let her go.
Alabi will forever live on in the hearts of everyone who knows her story though. Now she runs free and although she is no longer with us, the adventures of “A Wee Scottie Named Alabi” will never be forgotten.
