SPCA

"If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans" ~ James Herriot

Today a friend and I decided to go pet some dogs at SPCA figuring we needed it as much as they did.

When we walked thru the door, it smelled bad. Like there had been a few accidents in the place. But then I saw puppies, got distracted, and the smell went away pretty quickly. There were two main litters of puppies, and as pretty much all puppies are, they were adorable. I feel sure they'll all find homes.

It's the older dogs I worry about. After seeing the puppies- because that is what you see when you first walk in- we went back to pet the dogs. Every single cage was occupied. I think I pet each dog there, and all of them were sweet and gave me a look that seemed to be saying, "Please take me home." I noticed there were so many "black lab mixes". What is the deal, people? I read an article about "black dog syndrome" in the paper about people not wanting black dogs. The SPCA seemed to be proving that true. The more I pet, the more I felt sad. I wish I had a huge ranch and could take all of the dogs home and give them a happy life.

On our way out, I saw a woman adopting a little dog that walked with a limp, and had a crooked mouth. I asked the lady what was wrong with the dogs mouth. She said, "Oh she only has a few teeth, and she's about 11 years old..." and mentioned a few health problems the dog had. She told me that she likes to adopt the oldest and most troubled dog and even if they have only another year or two to live, she wants it to be the happiest year of their life.

I'm not sure that dog would've been adopted had it not been for this woman. Lots of people wouldn't even be in the financial situation to take good care of that dog, let alone pass up all the younger and healthier dogs also in need of a home. So finally, it was that dog's lucky day.

Anyway you slice it, all those dogs need and deserve homes. Whether they're puppies, dogs, healthy or not, big or little, black or white,...

Like I said, I felt sad being there. I felt helpless.
But then I returned to my house and was happily greeted by Zoe and Scout. And THAT made me feel grateful.