The Right Decision

For my entire life I have had a hand in animal rescue. I blame my dad. He was constantly bringing home homeless creatures: a skunk, a snake, a jackrabbit and others. After moving to Arizona, the salvation kept going. After my childhood dog, Socks, died, I went o the Humane Society to save another life to companion our other dog, Tara. Tara was heartbroken when she lost Socks. Then there were the sparrows, quail, cottontails and other desert dwellers. Eventually, I was back to cats. Clarabelle was found with her mother and littermates under a dumpster. Bailey was found hiding under the wheel of our truck. Katie Scarlet needed a home. Smokey was abandoned and mine for a few days when his family came back for him. Paul has had 20 some cats in and out of his life of cat rescue. For the last almost five years, it was cats only. When we moved in together there were 7 cats: Casper, Grendel, Pixel, Reece, Zelda, Clarabelle and Katie Scarlet and the two of us. Two years ago I had to place Clarabelle with my mother after Bailey died. She could not take the competition of 7 cats. It broke my heart, but I knew she was in the best hands. This September, the house was upped one cat, Diego and one dog, Daisy Mae. They were only going to stay until their previous owner could place them. Well, they stayed. Seven cats, one dog and two humans are a lot to manage. Then Mina came along. Which brings me to my story…

Monday morning Paul and I ran some errands. Upon our return from the morning errands Paul and I noticed 2 dogs running down our street. We went after them. Paul in one direction to the Brindle Bull Terrier, me after the yellow mutt-type dog. Thankfully, the yellow mutt had only gotten out of her yard and the owner was home. The owner was apologetic, but did not know anything about the terrier.

Who would know? Linda, the cat/dog sitter for the neighborhood. We asked and she was pretty sure the dog belonged to a person on our street.

After calling all the disconnected phone numbers on Spanky’s tag, Paul took him to the house believed to be his, left a note on the door, left him on a leash tied to the door and a bowl of water. Our concern was taking Spanky to the pound could be one extra step for his owner to make. We wanted man and dog to be reunited without so much fuss. Just get him home. If it meant babysitting Spanky for a few hours, what would that hurt us? We went to finish the errands we had on the list. Maybe a half an hour later Paul received call from a woman about Spanky. Spanky was not her dog. Paul told her he would be back in an hour or 2, could she please call animal control to pick him up. OK, fine. We did what we could and it was time to get The Man involved.

Paul and I returned to see the leash was on the ground next to the bowl of water. Great! Spanky was on his way to somewhere! No, the stupid bitch took him off the leash and let him go. LET HIM GO?!?!?!!! He was 2-doors down from her house. I was livid. I wanted to go to her house and tear her a new one. WTF was she thinking? “Not my dog. Not my problem.” People like this making me punching mad. I grabbed Spanky and held him until Paul returned with the leash. I ran into the house, got our dogs inside, so Paul could bring Spanky into the backyard.

Paul and I started searching online and trying to decipher Spanky’s well-worn tags. Nothing. Paul asked me if it was the right thing to take Spanky to Animal Care. I agreed. Spanky had been out for a few hours, he was still in the ‘hood, he was well cared for, well mannered; he just broke out. We loaded Spanky into the backseat of the truck and made our way to Animal Care. He had a record with them, not a bad one, just registration. We had to pass by the kennels to get him to where animals are dropped. Passing those kennels with all those dogs was crippling to me. I was trying so hard to believe this was the right decision. After all, no one was looking for Mina. If Paul had brought her here, there was no guarantee she would find a loving family and home; she would be doomed to die. I will not live with that. We waited in the rain for the door to open. I cried and cried. A volunteer came to us and asked how she could help. Probably thinking I was crying because we were giving up our sweet, handsome dog and I could not live with myself. Paul told her the story of the day and how he recently took in Daisy and Mina and his home for wayward cats. The volunteer was touched and shared if Spanky’s owner didn’t come to claim him in 4 days, he would be put up for adoption. She also shared since he is a pure-breed he will be adopted very quickly. There were two families already in the facility this week looking for a bull terrier. I guess that helped. The door finally opened and we took Spanky in the building. I was so relieved to hear his owner had already been in looking for him a few hours earlier. No matter what, Spanky’s story was a happy one in the end. Then, I had to walk by the kennels again. I was inconsolable and could not breathe by the time we got into the truck.

It was the right decision to keep Mina. It was the right decision to take Spanky to Animal Care. It was, wasn’t it?

In this rough time our country is facing, people are failing to be the least they can be: Human. They are abandoning their homes, leaving their pets inside the home or in the yard with and without food and water. They are opening their gates and letting their pets fend for themselves. Some are even driving their pets to the desert or another part of the city and dumping them. They are callously throwing away the one member of their family who never judged them, always loved them unconditionally and asked for only love and a good home in return. Why not dump your baby in the desert somewhere? That may sound obscene to most, but it is NOP DIFFERENT in my book.

I cannot give every abandoned animal a home with me. But, I can watch over the animal for an hour, a day, a week or a month until he or she can be placed with someone, who will love unwaveringly.

Come on America. Get your shit together. It is the right thing to do.