It was a week ago today when an animal control called to say they had taken in 11 dogs that day, had 14 more coming the next day, and the day after that they were receiving 24 more, and that's just what they knew for sure was coming. The 11 year old daughter of some friends had just told me she wanted a job like mine, so I asked her parents permission to haul her along on our road trip to animal control. She might as well see first hand about rescue and the choices and decisions that have to be made, particularly when there is limited space and money available.
We looked at all the dogs and started a mental list of the ones that we thought we might be able to place in new homes in fairly short order. There was Sally, a golden retriever mix, only a year old, had been to a hospital meet and greet, needed some manners, and had a great personality. There was a beagle mix female, 8 months old, cute and personable - we call her Claire. There was a wirehair mix male, about one year old, easy going and friendly. There were a few puppies, but their cages were right next to a pup that had some diarrhea, so we passed on all of them just in case it was of the contagious variety. There were a few others that we looked at, including a little guy that I now call Rabbit. We loaded Sally, Claire, Dusty, and Rabbit and headed home. These dogs would fill up all the empty spaces.
When we got home, there was our guest - a former student from our days as adjunct faculty at Kirkwood Community College in the equine program. There was a friend and her daughter with my yearling miniature horse. My husband was asked to do a DVD specifically for miniature horse owners, and I bought a dun colt whose sire was of the Little King bloodline and whose mother is named Dust Bunny. I have named the colt Swiffer. The breeder sent along another colt, Eclipse, for company. She also sent along a calico kitten with tabby stripes - is that a tabico? She's adorable, probably only 6 weeks old, and loves my big 91 pound lab/rott mix female.
The friend and daughter who delivered the minis picked out a yearling colt from the foundation quarter horse stock, so we have only 2 more quarter horses to place. Both are colts, both are yearlings, both are still available.
At the end of the day, I asked the 11 year old what she thought of the job. In spite of the hot and humid weather, all the kennel cleaning, dish washing, laundry, she said she loved it. I explained to her that it is impossible to save every dog, and to keep from becoming a hoarder, she will need to set up some guidelines and rules for herself and follow them in order to do the best job she can do. Then we both laughed at me, because I broke a rule of my own. We brought Rabbit home - that will be the next blog.
We looked at all the dogs and started a mental list of the ones that we thought we might be able to place in new homes in fairly short order. There was Sally, a golden retriever mix, only a year old, had been to a hospital meet and greet, needed some manners, and had a great personality. There was a beagle mix female, 8 months old, cute and personable - we call her Claire. There was a wirehair mix male, about one year old, easy going and friendly. There were a few puppies, but their cages were right next to a pup that had some diarrhea, so we passed on all of them just in case it was of the contagious variety. There were a few others that we looked at, including a little guy that I now call Rabbit. We loaded Sally, Claire, Dusty, and Rabbit and headed home. These dogs would fill up all the empty spaces.
When we got home, there was our guest - a former student from our days as adjunct faculty at Kirkwood Community College in the equine program. There was a friend and her daughter with my yearling miniature horse. My husband was asked to do a DVD specifically for miniature horse owners, and I bought a dun colt whose sire was of the Little King bloodline and whose mother is named Dust Bunny. I have named the colt Swiffer. The breeder sent along another colt, Eclipse, for company. She also sent along a calico kitten with tabby stripes - is that a tabico? She's adorable, probably only 6 weeks old, and loves my big 91 pound lab/rott mix female.
The friend and daughter who delivered the minis picked out a yearling colt from the foundation quarter horse stock, so we have only 2 more quarter horses to place. Both are colts, both are yearlings, both are still available.
At the end of the day, I asked the 11 year old what she thought of the job. In spite of the hot and humid weather, all the kennel cleaning, dish washing, laundry, she said she loved it. I explained to her that it is impossible to save every dog, and to keep from becoming a hoarder, she will need to set up some guidelines and rules for herself and follow them in order to do the best job she can do. Then we both laughed at me, because I broke a rule of my own. We brought Rabbit home - that will be the next blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment