I will admit it, I can be a sap at times. And the day I adopted Jack from the shelter was one of them.
My mom (bless her heart) would send me money in a birthday card every year before she passed away, RIP. I decided one year that she was buying me a dog for my birthday - what every kid wants and every 40-something year old eventually gets. I decided that I wanted to adopt from a shelter and in particular a shelter that did euthanize because, in my opinion, they were the animals most at risk for obvious reasons. I made the Escondido branch of our local Humane Society my target, grabbed my keys, and took off.
This was long before I had a cell phone, and I just wrote the directions down on a piece of paper. I say that it is a bit of divine providence that Jack came home with me that day because of several reasons; the first being that I almost t turned around twice before I got there. I drove and drove, and finally said to myself ‘if it’s not the very next street, I’m turning around and going home'. Of course, it was the next street. Again, I drove and drove, long past where homes stopped and I was sure I had missed it along the way and again, said to myself, ‘if that’s not it up there in the distance, I’m turning around and going home'. Of course, there it was.
I don’t know if you have ever been to an animal shelter before, but it can be an emotional experience. It sure was for me. When I came into the reception area, there were many volunteers and workers around, lots of barking, cats, and kittens in cages (it was kitten season then), everything you would expect in an animal shelter. I was told by one of the volunteers that the drill was, small dogs are over in this area, larger dogs over in this area. You look around and see if there are any dogs you would like to see ‘in person’, write down the number on their cage and bring that to the reception, where a volunteer will help you. Ok, great, I head towards the rooms where the dogs are. And here is where the hard part started. Walking along beside all those cages, seeing all those hopeful looking faces that really want to just get out and play and run. Or worse, the not-hopeful ones, who have been in there so long they just lay there and are not even interested in who is there to see them.
I made my way around the cages, came back to a quiet place in the reception area, and started bawling my eyes out (silently - I didn't want to cause any attention). One of the volunteers came over and patted me on the arm; it wasn’t the first time she had a sap like me break down in tears. After a couple of minutes, I was able to pull myself together (suck it up, buttercup) and determine that damn it, I drove a long way and I was going home with a dog! And I wanted to get one of those poor babies out of the damn cages! On my first trip around I didn’t see that perfect dog I was seeking, but I thought I would give it one more try before going home.
And there he was, my Jack. He wasn’t there the first go-around as he had been in isolation due to kennel cough, and had only come out that morning. Someone else had already ‘claimed’ him earlier however, they called to say they had changed their minds, and so there he was waiting just for me. I jotted down his number and ran back to the reception area, practically dancing. They brought him out to the ‘meet and greet’ area, and Jack has been by my side ever since. He has traveled with us from California to Arizona to Louisiana to West Virginia and back to California. Jack is my road dog and I love him to bits. Looking back, the only thing I would have done differently is adopting two dogs instead of just one.
The bottom line is, if you are thinking about adopting from a shelter there are several things to do and prepare before bringing home that new dog. And you may not realize that one of the things you need to prepare before visiting the shelter is yourself, but it is so worth it when you see that special dog staring back at you!
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