A Sad Story With A Happy Ending (I PROMISE) ...

Hewwo fwiends.  How are y'all doing today?  It's H-friggin'-O-stinkin'-T here.  Seriously, I'm ready for summer to be over with.  I know all of you just gasp'ed so loud that I could hear it through my computer screen at the thought of me wishing away pool days, hamburger and hotdog cookouts and sweating like a pink curly tailed farm animal warm days but seriously, since I graduated from school i.e. an excuse to do notadarnthing during the summer, and have to put on work clothes (which = not tank tops, shorts and flip flops) Monday through Friday I absolutely ABHOR summer.  There are things I like, like the 4th of July, my mom, brother and the twins birfdays and Memorial Day, but all in all it's not my favorite.  I love all things holiday, cool weather, Christmas music, coats, layers and boots, craft fairs, getting together with family, fireplaces and holiday decorations.  So for now, I'm just trying to survive.  And I'm assuming my dislike for the summer days will become even STRONGER now that I'm pregnant and sweat just from LOOKING at the sunshine outside.  On top of all that (I'm just a BUNDLE of positivity today ain't I?) I really don't have much to chat about today, so I thought I'd tell y'all about something I've been meaning to blog about since it happened anyway.  If I haven't made it clear in the past, I'm an animal lover.  And by animal lover I mean I rescue doodle bugs out of my office, save earth worms from frying on the concrete, and will serve enough to put me driving on the sidewalk to avoid hitting a squirrel/bunny/bird/anything in the animal kingdom that decides it's a good idea to run out into the road.  I would own every dog/cat/horse/goat in any given animal shelter if my Mister would let me.  He loves animals too, just not as out of control passionately as I do.  As a result of this love for animals, I've somehow been added to this rescue list of emails that goes around involving animals in shelters or that have been rescued that need homes.  I wanted to tell you about two I got last week.  One about an 8 year old male Labrador and another about an 8 year old male Boxer.  Let's start with Brutus the Lab.

Brutus was part of an email I got for a shelter in Carrollton (which is a suburb close to Dallas) from a man who does AMAZING work at the Carrollton shelter.  He goes above and beyond what most shelter workers do, which is just think of the dogs and cats that come there as part of their "job" and nothing more.  Joe is the contact there that sends the email plea's out to save the animals on the "soon to be euthanized" list as well as puts pictures with each dog/cat and a bio to tell a little bit about them.  Joe also is the one that euthanizes them and a local news station did a special report on him where he stated that when he does have to euthanize an animal, he pets them, holds them, and makes sure they are comfortable and at least feels that they were cared about while he administers the injection.  Isn't this the type of person you would want at EVERY kill shelter that had to administer these procedures?  I don't know about y'all but it makes me feel better knowing Joe's the one doing it and not some jerk that thinks of them as disposible.  So, on to Brutus.  It's heartbreaking to see all animals in shelters, especially when you know they don't have much time until they're put down, but the ones that REALLY get me are the ones where their owners just decided they didn't have time/room/energy for them anymore or they have a child and don't pay any attention to them because of the new baby and dump them at a shelter, a kill shelter for that matter.  How scared and confused these poor animals must feel.  How abandoned, alone and terrified.  It absolutely breaks my heart.  And makes me sick at the same time.  People really should have to pass a test, a humane test, before they're allowed to own a pet.  Really.

Back to Brutus, this is what Brutus's bio read along with his picture.

This handsome boy was released to the shelter by his people who had a new in-ground pool installed which left little or no room for him in the yard. He is a sweet, gentle boy who is really hoping that there is another home out there for him. He is 8 years old and neutered already, he likes the other dogs and loves to meet new people. He will sit when you ask him and give you his paw in hopes of winning your heart. Brutus has all of his past medical paperwork with him to pass onto the new owner. According to his records, Brutus suffers from arthritis which can require medication.

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME!?!?  You get a POOL and decide you have no room for your 8 YEAR OLD Lab and decide to dump him at a shelter?  If only I knew who these people were.  IF ONLY.  I hope you're enjoying your pool.  PLEASE note the severe amount of sarcasm DRIPPING from that statement.  So you can only imagine how distraught I was after seeing this.  I sent the email to the normal list I usually send to (whom I'm sure are getting sick of the forwards, but I JUST can't bring myself to hit delete it only takes a minute) and posted his picture and bio on my facebook page as well.  I went home thinking about sweet Brutus with his face burned in my mind and prayed for him all day.  His "put down" date was Wednesday and this was Monday.  Well (here's the happy part I promised you) the next day when I got to work I received an email saying Brutus had been ADOPTED that NIGHT!!!  I literally teared up and almost started crying at my desk.  I was on cloud 9 all day knowing sweet Brutus was in a home that would NEVER do that to him again.

Until ...

That night I got ANOTHER email.  This one was a plea from a woman who had found a dog on the side of the road that she couldn't keep but couldn't in her right mind leave him there.  Here is the story ...

I found a male boxer on hwy 287 yesterday while on the way to my vet. I had him checked out and he tested heart worm negative. He did not have any intestnal parasites. I had his rabies shot done. The vet thinks that he's about 8 yrs old. He appears to be housetrained and gets along with/ ignores other animals. I am unable to keep him. Please let me know if you would be willing to take him and try to find him a home. He has not been fixed, but the vet said that it would have to wait at least six months due to his weight. I have attached pictures so that you can see the condition that I found him in (be warned, they're disturbing).

But did you catch that?  He's HOUSETRAINED and has NO heartworm problems.  That means he was a pet people.  Now, I'm HOPING that he just got lost and some unfortunate people lost their beloved pet and the other horror that I imagine is not actually the case.  That someone dumped him.  Because they no longer had "time" or "room" or "had a baby and didn't want a pet any more".   That's just too sickening for me to stomach so I'm going to go with the latter.  Which I'm not quite sure what that word means, "the latter" ... does it mean the last thing I just said or the first?  I'm using it in the tense of referring to the first ... ?  Right.  Back to this poor Boxer.  So, as you can imagine, I was again, plagued with a sense of naseau (for once, not caused by my sweet baby) after sending it to my regular list of contacts because I couldn't dream of this little guy going to the pound.  But low and behold, a few hours later I got an update forwarded from the sender of this email.  The update was from a woman who said that Alexander (that is what she had named him) was now in her care and would be as long as he lived.  Here is the actual email she sent ...

Hello, I have adopted him and he is doing great. I was going to adopt Brutus the yellow lab and he had already been adopted. The same morning I received this email about the boxer. I already have him here and I am keeping him. He is way too attached to be moved again. He has been to the vet again for a checkup and he is doing well. Already gained a pound and a half! I named him Alexander for Alexander The Great. If he has withstood these conditions then he is indeed a great dog. I have attached a pic if you would like to circulate and let everyone know he is doing good with his new family. The nice young lady has offered to pay for his neuter so he is sponsered as well. Thanks Again.

I won't post the picture for the sake of this woman's privacy but I will tell you it was a precious picture of her on her couch, with Alexander laying across her chest looking happy as ever.  So just as quickly as I fell off, I jumped right back on cloud 9 knowing there ARE good people in this world.  Now let me say, I am in no way shape or form saying that you are a bad person if you've had to give up a pet for one reason or another.  I am talking about the people that decide they are inconvienences and instead of finding them a loving, caring home to live in, decide to dump them at the nearest shelter (or worse, dump them on the side of the road), confused, scared and alone.  I understand situations arise where you can't take your pet, circumstances change, etc. but most people that have ever truely loved and cared for a pet would NEVER consider leaving them in the above described conditions.

And now, I'll jump off my soap box.  {Jump} 

I hope these happy endings made you as happy as they did me!  See you tomorrow for some 17 Week Bumpdates!!!