The Best and the Worst of People

This was supposed to be a feel-good entry. I was still on sort of a high from last Friday afternoon's shelter tour. It made me so proud to show off our hard work and to demonstrate what a difference our program is making. To illustrate that point, I was going to write about today's session in the park with Trouble (above). In her months with us, she'd gone from ill-mannered and a bit bratty to a dog that can now control her impulses, even enjoying a quiet moment of affection once in a while. I was planning a clever title for the entry. Something about Trouble actually being her middle name.

But as is my routine, when I got home from the shelter, I sat down at my laptop and jumped online. I checked my usual handful of sites, and against my better judgement, clicked on a headline I knew better than to pursue. I could barely get through the story, I felt so sick. Sick to the point of thinking I was going to vomit. I began having those non-sensical thoughts one has when one hears something terrible, like trying to figure out a way to take every meal I'd ever overeaten and somehow transmit it to that starving dog. It didn't matter that it wasn't possible, that it doesn't even make sense.

Amazingly, the dog did not die -- the story has a happy ending. But I'm not satisfied. I want the man responsible for this to pay. Because we live in a society in which cruel and unusual punishment is not acceptable (even when appropriate), my wish that he be made to starve to half his normal weight will not come to be. So instead I will point readers here and support organizations that make more of an impact than one anonymous blogger.

It's been hours since I first came upon the article; it's taken that long for me to get my head around it. It occurs to me that I haven't eaten since I left for the shelter at ten o'clock this morning. Not even a full day, but I'm suddenly uncomfortably, painfully hungry.

I Love Posts Like This

Nothing makes me happier than passing on a happy ending. We have one for one of our longtime guests, Little Papa, a spunky brindle boxer who came to us in November for a cruelty case along with his friend Bear, a pitbull. Their case ended recently with them both being surrendered over to the shelter -- this was a good outcome since their home was not a good place to be . For Little Papa, it's the best outcome. He's very adoptable and I'm sure will find a good home - in fact, he's already passed his medical and temperament tests and been moved over to the available animals section of the shelter. If you know anyone interested in adopting a loveable goof of a dog that needs tons of exercise and no small children in the house, please pass this along.

Little Papa's Pick-Up Game

Little Papa plays a chatty game of soccer. I kick the orange ball around the park, and he chases after it, yapping at me through the green squeaky toy in his mouth. “Go get it! Go get the ball,” I tell him. He chomps on his toy, making inscrutable plastic squeaky noises that I imagine to mean You should try chewing on one of these – it’ll improve your game. His big boxer eyes gaze up at me, and for a minute I believe him.

He’s so lean and spry and full of energy, I wish Little Papa could stay here in the park all day (and I think he wishes that too). But in his typical good-natured form, he willingly follows me back inside the shelter to his kennel. I leave him with a peanut-butter covered rawhide and one of his squeaky toys, but I don’t think he plays with it much when I’m not around. I close the kennel gate and smile at him. I’ll see you next time, Pops.

Little Papa in Action

What LP lacks in brains he makes up for in pure zest for life. All this guy cares about is playing and receiving affection. Sounds simple but, when you think about it, not a whole lot else matters.

Picture of the Day

Imagine what he does with his food
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That may be the fattest tongue ever

Little Papa, one our newer arrivals, takes a break after a long outing in the training park. He and his friend, Bear, a pitbull joined us last month. They both are heavily into chasing tennis balls and playing tug-of-war but Little Papa generally doesn't emerge victorious. He's good natured about it, though and just enjoys the activity. You can see more shots of him in action here.