It was one of those days today. I befriended this dog a few weeks ago. He was a cutie, a little nervous of his surroundings but nothing in my eyes that was major concern. Today was his day, to see if he would make it for adoption. Unfortunately he did not make it. I went to go find him, knowing in the back of my head it was not good for him. I found him in his kennel, in a pool of his own drool. He was anxious, he was nervous….. he knew.
As I sat outside of his kennel, with my hand on the fence, he placed his paw up onto my hand. We weren’t very close friends, but I was still his special someone who would take him out for a run every now and then. I told him to sit, he did, give paw, he did, lay down, he did. He kept licking my hand, still drooling. I took him out for one last run, it the dog park, let him off leash and he just ran around, happy.
They know, they all know. Dogs are not dumb. It’s sad to see, when they start doing things out of the ordinary for them. I always see something in those with issues. They have a life before they end up in a shelter, they didn’t just come from nowhere, they all came from somewhere, someones home, someones family, and now they are just a stray with a time limit, and no one comes looking for them….
My heart hurts for them. Especially those ones who are so scared, right up until there last moments. You just want to tell them it’s okay, tell them it is alright, and that you are there for them and not going to hurt them. I looked into the eyes of one of those dogs today. He finally came up to me, let me pet his nose. Those sad scared eyes looking at me. I told him it was going to be okay, he won’t have to be scared anymore, he will finally be at peace soon.
There is so much good that comes from an animal shelter, but behind the scenes there is all these sad moments, sad cases. Days where you just want to quit, because you can’t take it anymore. How do people treat animals so badly. How do you just lose your animal and not bother to look for it, how this and how that. You wouldn’t abandon your child, why is it okay to abandon an animal?
Bridget Dean 
Thank you for being their friend, especially at the end when it is needed most.
Keep on Saving. You make a difference.
I’ve worked in animal hospitals that were linked with Animal Control. We caught tons of abuse cases. It never fails to break your heart.
As hard as it is, thank you for what you do!
this is such a sad entry, a sad reality. i feel for dogs who are just like your old pal. in a perfect world, all dogs would have a home and someone to take care of them and love them just as much as they love their human back. but then the world isn’t perfect and so things like these happen. if only people wouldn’t hurt dogs this much. i wonder what those people get when they abandon, neglect or abuse their pets? what does that make of them as a person? dogs won’t do such a thing to their humans. if only people knew that. if only..
I completely agree, If only they knew!