Repeat: The True Story of a Big, Homeless Dog and a Disabled Girl

 

The True Story of a Big, Homeless Dog and a Disabled Girl

"Two Dogs and a Shelter"

by
Lisa Saunders


"Mom, can I have a dog? I promise I'll take care of it,” my 12-year-old daughter, Jackie, asked yet again on New Year’s Eve of 2000.

I cringed. After all these years, why couldn’t she take “no” as the final answer? Not only did I know who really ends up walking it in the pouring rain, but we also had a daughter, Elizabeth, who was quadriplegic from cerebral palsy (I caught cytomegalovirus--CMV-- during my pregnancy). She was unable to protect herself against a frisky animal like the cat we briefly owned that clawed her face.

Instead of arguing with Jackie again about why she couldn’t have a dog, I just reiterated the promise I had made to her six years earlier: “If God Himself brings a dog our door, then you can have it. Only then will I assume it’s a sign that the dog will be gentle around your sister." Jackie and my husband, Jim, decided that if that day should ever come, they would name the dog Riley after the dog in the movie, "Homeward Bound II.”

Unbelievably, a few weeks after that New Year’s Eve, a big, brown female puppy, shivering cold, wet and dirty, tried to jump into our car as we were leaving to go out with friends.

Stunned, I knew Jim and I had to honor our pledge. But first, I ran "found" ads, put up posters, and called the police. Reporting her to our local animal shelter, Donald, the Assistant Director, said that an overwhelmed owner--who probably received the puppy as a Christmas present--had dumped her.

Jackie wouldn't name the puppy Riley because she only knew male dogs named Riley, so she called her Gabrielle-Gabby for short.

Now I was the overwhelmed owner. Not only did Gabby urinate all over our new wall to wall carpets and chew on everything, she was a nipper. She'd playfully attack all passing ankles and grab Elizabeth's feet dangling over the couch with her razor sharp teeth. Many nights I lay awake worried she'd hurt Elizabeth someday.

Suddenly a solution occurred to me. Perhaps Jackie would agree to upgrade the dog for an older, calmer one sitting in an animal shelter? Moments after having that thought, Jackie started screaming from the laundry room, "Dad, get Gabby off me! She's attacking my feet again."

That's it. Without saying a word, I picked up the phone and dialed Donald at the shelter. "Help! The puppy we took in a month ago is driving us crazy. Can you find her another home?"

"Puppies are easy, I can find her a home within a week."

"Do you have an older, calmer dog? I have a handicapped child, so I really must be certain."

"As a matter of fact, I have a big, fat, lazy male Lab-mix, who wants nothing more than to lie on a couch all day. He's not only a couch potato, he's the whole sack of potatoes!"

"Perfect! What's his name?"

"Riley."

"Riley! You're kidding me! Hold on to him. We'll be right in!"

Jackie felt sad on the trip to the shelter with Gabby on her lap, yet awed by the name of the dog we would be bringing home. "Mom, that's got to be a sign."

She was right. Not only did the 100-pound Riley come fully neutered with up to date shots, he was completely housebroken. As soon as he got settled into our house, I patted the couch next to Elizabeth letting him know he was welcome to join her--and he did just that. Like Elizabeth, Riley was considered a misfit because he couldn't do much. He didn't know how to fetch, play with a toy or chew on a rawhide, but he did know how to jump on the couch and keep Elizabeth warm without stepping on her.

Jackie finally had a dog and Elizabeth finally had a companion who understood her. It became my pleasure to walk our carpet-friendly couch potato--even in the pouring rain!

End Note: I later learned that Gabby was adopted within a week of being dropped off at the shelter and that her new family had broken her nipping habit. She was making her new home as happy as Riley had made ours.

NY Legislators in 2026: Support two NY CMV bills PLUS national Stop CMV Act

TO NEW YORK STATE REPRESENTATIVES (see below my signature for separate letter to Congress members about the Stop CMV Act):

Consider cosponsoring the following:

1. Bill A3956/S5454:"Requires cytomegalovirus [CMV] screening for every newborn..." 

2. Bill A3074/S7662: "Requires reporting of positive cytomegalovirus results." Newborns "SHALL BE REFERRED TO A PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST...BEFORE...FOUR WEEKS…EXAMINATION SHALL INCLUDE…EYE EXAM BY AN OPHTHALMOLOGIST; AND HEARING...”

To learn more about the bills, contact Nick Guile, Legislative Director, Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, 518.455.5802, guilen@nyassembly.gov. 

Background information about congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV): 

I was the mother of Elizabeth (see attached image), born with brain damage from congenital CMV. When pregnant with Elizabeth, I was unaware of CMV and how to prevent it – namely by carefully handling the saliva and urine of toddlers who, though otherwise healthy, may be excreting the virus in their bodily fluids.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states: “CMV can be passed from a pregnant person to their fetus. About one in 200 infants are born with a congenital CMV infection; of those, about one in five will have birth defects or other long-term health problems” (ACOG, 2024). Congenital CMV can cause autism (AAP News), is the #1 viral cause of birth defects, and is the leading non-heredity cause of hearing loss (CDC).

In 2025, I dropped in on some Health Committee members in Albany to tell them that diagnosing congenital CMV early was important, even if the newborn passed their hearing screen because hearing loss can be progressive. According to the CDC, "Hearing loss can affect a child’s ability to develop speech, language, and social skills. The earlier that children with hearing loss start getting services, the more likely they are to reach their full potential" (CDC). (MN and CT already have universal screening laws.)  The committee members wanted know more about the following:

1) Antiviral: “antiviral therapy with a 6-month course of valganciclovir, if implemented by 30 days of age, improved audiologic and neurodevelopmental outcomes for moderately-to-severely symptomatic infants with confirmed cCMV" (Schleiss, M., The Journal of Pediatrics, 2024).

2) Savings: "savings of up to $37.97 per newborn screened were estimated" when all newborns are tested for congenital CMV according to the study, Cost-effectiveness of Universal and Targeted Newborn Screening for Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection (Soren Gantt, MD, et al., 2016). Report analyzes costs: “AN ACT RELATIVE TO NEWBORN SCREENING FOR CONGENITAL CYTOMEGALOVIRUS”  by BerryDunn for MA’s CMV bill).

3) Racial Disparities: Congenital CMV “is 3 times more prevalent in black infants” (Moderna, Inc). Video, “Racial Disparities in Babies with cCMV” (Massachusetts CCMV Coalition).

4) Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection pilot study: Of the 210,100 babies born in NYS between 10/2023 – 9/2024, about 275 or so had "convincing evidence of congenital CMV," said Andrew Handel, MD, Stony Brook Children's Hospital, Co-Primary Investigator of PROACTIVE NYS, a long-term follow-up study of young children with congenital CMV. “We've seen cases of missed clinically apparent cCMV during the NYS universal screening program. There have been some infants with features of cCMV that went unrecognized until the universal screen returned positive.” NY Dept. of Health created this flier: Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Testing and Your Baby (Publication #20185) (PDF)

Conclusions: "More than one-half of newborns with symptomatic cCMV were not recognized prior to the positive NBS [newborn screening] result, suggesting that symptom-based cCMV screening [such as failed newborn hearing test] may be inadequate for identifying newborns with symptomatic cCMV disease" (Universal Newborn Screening for Congenital Cytomegalovirus Using Dried Blood Spot Specimens, JAMA Network, 29 January 2026). 

Commenting on the study, Pablo J. Sánchez, MD, said, "... a targeted strategy fails to identify as many as 43% of congenitally infected neonates who develop late-onset sensorineural hearing loss and subsequent neurodevelopmental disability. A universal CMV screening approach would circumvent those issues and is the optimal strategy for the identification of all at-risk neonates. In this respect, and as illustrated in the timely and important study by Tavakoli et al, New York State’s implementation of universal CMV screening represents an important step forward." Dr. Sánchez concludes, "Although both universal and targeted CMV screening have been shown to be cost-effective, universal screening provides larger net savings and the greatest opportunity for directed care of all affected infants and children...Given the prevalence of congenital CMV infection, its associated sequelae, the availability of antiviral and supportive treatments, and targeted interventions for hearing impairment, efforts to advance universal screening should be prioritized." ("Universal Screening for Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection," JAMA Network, 29 January 2026). 

These two New York mothers share the problems associated with not testing all newborns for congenital CMV:

Kara Russell of Penfield, NY, said, “My daughter, Lyla, is the perfect example of why all newborns should be tested for CMV and receive early intervention in their first critical months of life.” Lyla, born in 2018, "passed her newborn hearing screen, so she was never tested for CMV. Therefore, she never received the recommended regular hearing checks to catch the possibility of a progressive hearing loss. It wasn't until Lyla's five-year well check that we learned she had profound unilateral hearing loss -- that she was totally deaf in her left ear. We have no idea how long she was unable to hear accurately.” Kara is the New York National CMV Alliance Co-Chair (nationalcmvnys@gmail.com).

Kristin Schuster of Canandaigua, NY, mom to Autumn (born 2015), said, "Unfortunately, my daughter wasn't diagnosed with congenital CMV until 18 months old – well after the opportunity had passed to receive antiviral treatment most effective when given between ages zero to six months.”

In 2022, New  York State passed “Elizabeth’s Law” (A7560), named in memory of my daughter. It “Requires the provision of informational materials [about cCMV] to child care providers and certain physicians and midwives regarding.” The NYS Dept. of Health created the following informational materials: 1) Protect Your Baby from Cytomegalovirus (CMV) (Publication #20172) (PDF) and 2) Dear Provider Letter and Child Care Staff and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) #5061 

(In 2018, New York passed S2816, which requires testing newborns who fail their hearing screen for CMV.)

Organizations Supporting Universal CMV Screening, with their detailed position statements, include:

1. American Academy of Audiology
2. American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery: 
3. National CMV Foundation

I am happy to provide you with more information. 

Thank you!

Lisa Saunders

LisaSaunders42@gmail.com

Author of Had I Known about CMV: From Shock to Law; Advisory Board (as Parent Advocate) for PROACTIVE NYS,  a long-term follow-up study of young children with congenital CMV; NY DeafBlind Collaborative Expert Advisory Council; and CMV Policy Coalition (National CMV Foundation). CMV content: flier, "CMV in New York (and OSHA," and Pac-B TV interview,“CytoMegaloVirus (CMV) - What Moms Wished They Knew."

###

DEAR CONGRESS MEMBERS

We were the parents of Elizabeth (see attached images), born with brain damage from congenital CMV. When I was pregnant with Elizabeth, I was unaware of CMV and how to prevent it – namely by carefully handling the saliva and urine of toddlers who, though otherwise healthy, may be excreting the virus in their bodily fluids.

I'm asking that Congress members to co-sponsor the Stop CMV Act of 2025 (H.R.5435/S.2842).  “To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for congenital Cytomegalovirus screening of newborns.”  Introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT] and Rep. Michael Lawler [R-NY]. According to the National CMV Foundation, The legislation proposes the following:

• Provide funding for hospitals and healthcare providers to test newborns for cCMV
• Support state agencies in setting clear standards for newborn testing
• Create grants to expand cCMV testing, strengthen data collection, and provide education and training
• Boost research at the National Institutes of Health for better screening, prevention, vaccines and treatment

Without universal CMV screening, the diagnosis of congenital CMV “may be overlooked for years, leading to developmental disorders without adequate treatment" (Andriesse et al., 2006).

Kara Russell of Penfield, NY, said, “My daughter, Lyla, is the perfect example of why all newborns should be tested for CMV and receive early intervention in their first critical months of life.” Lyla, born in 2018, "passed her newborn hearing screen, so she was never tested for CMV. Therefore, she never received the recommended regular hearing checks to catch the possibility of a progressive hearing loss. It wasn't until Lyla's five-year well check that we learned she had profound unilateral hearing loss -- that she was totally deaf in her left ear. We have no idea how long she was unable to hear accurately.” Kara is the New York National CMV Alliance Co-Chair (nationalcmvnys@gmail.com).

According to the CDC, "Hearing loss can affect a child's ability to develop communication, language and social skills. The earlier children with hearing loss start getting services, the more likely they are to reach their full potential."

Kristin Schuster of Canandaigua, NY, mom to Autumn (born 2015), said, "Unfortunately, my daughter wasn't diagnosed with congenital CMV until 18 months old – well after the opportunity had passed to receive antiviral treatment most effective when given between ages zero to six months.” Kristin is referring to “antiviral therapy with a 6-month course of valganciclovir, if implemented by 30 days of age, improved audiologic and neurodevelopmental outcomes for moderately-to-severely symptomatic infants with confirmed cCMV" (Schleiss).

MN and CT already have universal congenital CMV screening laws. New York State tested all newborns for congenital CMV during the 2023-2024 pilot study. Speaking of the pilot study results, Andrew Handel, MD, a Pediatric Infectious Disease physician at Stony Brook Children's Hospital, said, “We've seen cases of missed clinically apparent cCMV during the NYS universal screening program. There have been some infants with features of cCMV that went unrecognized until the universal screen returned positive.” The Dept. of Health created the flier, Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Testing and Your Baby (Publication #20185) (PDF)

Organizations Supporting Universal CMV Screening, with their detailed position statements, include:

1. American Academy of Audiology
2. American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery: 
3. National CMV Foundation

I am happy to provide you with more information. 

Sincerely,

Lisa Saunders

Author of Had I Known about CMV: From Shock to Law; Advisory Board (as Parent Advocate) for PROACTIVE NYS,  a long-term follow-up study of young children with congenital CMV; NY DeafBlind Collaborative Expert Advisory Council; and CMV Policy Coalition (National CMV Foundation). CMV content: flier, "CMV in New York (and OSHA," and Pac-B TV interview,“CytoMegaloVirus (CMV) - What Moms Wished They Knew."

NOTE:

Some friends have asked me how to get a law passed about their particular cause, so I created the PowerPoint, "How to Get a Law Passed – even if you're not thin and famous!" You are welcome to click through the slides in case you find it helpful. I have also called and/or written by legislators about the following topics in case you are looking for a cause to tackle:

• Jesus, Hanukkah, and proposed national and NY legislation to combat antisemitism
• A parent’s “coercive control” in child custody cases: Could Ava's death have been prevented? 
• Legislators: Reduce Fetal Pain During Procedures (abortion)
• Legislators in 2026: Support two NY CMV bills PLUS national Stop CMV Act