Nobody's Dog

[dainerra]

Today is the death day of nobody's dog
nothing will mark it but a note in the log,
I'm faceless and nameless and no tears will fall
for I know in your world I have no worth at all
To you, my sweet someone, I'm a friend and a dear
... ... We ran the wind daily and you held me so near
But the gate was left open - I chanced a walk on my own
I'd have cowered in fear if only I'd known
I know how you cried on the night that I strayed
I know how you searched, I know how you prayed
But I went to a pound far far from our home
Where I crouched in despair in my kennel alone
I know that you phoned for I heard your dear voice
And I hoped you would hear me so I barked myself hoarse
Although I'm a Lab cross with stockings all white
On their form I'm a Staff cross - the description's not right
So they said I'm not here and I sank to my bed
My kennel cough's worse and I can't raise my head
The rescue came yesterday but they hadn't a place
For an un-neutered cross breed with his mucus-streaked face
If only you'd come to search for me here
You would have known me at once, you would have sensed I was near
You would have sorted my ills, you would have carried me home
And I promise our God no more would I roam
Now my eyes plead for mercy for my seven days are done
And I am waiting with dread for the final vet run
No arms will caress me as they inject me to death
No words will comfort me as I take my last breath
When the body man comes, it is fitting I'm found
In a bin bag in the freezer in the depths of the pound
Thrown away like the rubbish - no respect and no shame
Denied even the time to find hope again
My loyalty and devotion they did cruelly betray
Without microchip or nametag, I am just a dispensable stray
Once waggy-tailed, once proud, beloved and free
look with pain at what mankind's done to me!

----author unknown

 

[Snowygirl]

 

[Suzie]

You know how to make a dog lover cry! That is so very sad - I will not sleep easily tonight - the story will haunt me!

Suzie

 

[bock]

That was beautifully written. So sad, and so true.

 

[Chickenfan4life]

Beautifully written. It moved me. That's why I believe "Don't breed or buy while homeless die!!!"

 

[wyoDreamer]

My neighbor stopped by a week ago. Her beloved 12 year old dog who come with her to America from the Ukraine disappeared the night before. They let him out for his potty-before-bed and he wandered off. They searched that night and didn't find him. It got down below -15 that night and she had just had him shaved the week before. She went door to door in the neighborhood - and had resigned herself to just locating his body so she could bury him. She called the county shelter and they said she would have to come down to the shelter to look - they couldn't tell her if he was there or not. ***, you think they could at least let her know if a salt and pepper standard Schnauser showed up! We live at a high elevation, and on the prairie so there aren't any trees or areas he could go for shelter and the shelter is over 30 miles away and there aren't very many - if any other Schnausers in the area. Luckily, two days later -three nights in the bitter cold! - he showed up on the edge of town and she got a call from the shelter that he was there, tired and weak but alive. Turns out the person she talked to on the phone the first time didn't know what a Schnauser was and wasn't willing to admit to it.

 

[dainerra]

that is exactly why you should never take the shelter's word for it that your dog isn't there - most people wouldn't recognize a specific dog breed if their lives depended on it.

All dogs with pointy ears are "GSD-mixes" Anything with short hair is a "pit mix" and anything with floppy ears is a "lab mix" especially if it's black!

I have a sable German Shepherd - I get blank stares at the word "sable" My biggest worry is that he would be shot because half the people around here think he looks like a coyote

 

[canesisters]

I worked at a boarding/grooming shop for a few years. We often did grooming for the local animal control - it's easier to find a home for a cute, fluffy mix than for a lumped up, smelly mess. One day they brought in a small, grey, 3-legged lump and asked me to find out what it was. It took several hours of careful work - taking it down to bare skin in some places - but it turned out to be a TINY shih-tzu - with 4 legs! Her right, front leg had gotten tangled in the mats some time in the past and the leg was now permanently twisted up against her chest. She had been living in a sort-of alley between several houses. No one claimed her. No one took responsibility for her. They left her food - that was it.
We named her Knotmi (not my). She was eventually adopted by a nice family who had a couple other shih-tzu-poodley type dogs.


I would like to add - I also did a few years at a vets' office. The animal control in that town did not euthanize at the shelter, they brought them to one of several local vets. If the animal was cuddle able, it was cuddled and held and soothed and loved on just a little bit. Sometimes the sheer numbers meant that we only had a moment or two, but never was an animal that had obviously been a loved pet, simply injected and tossed aside.
A little compassion for the people who have chosen to dedicate their lives to 'Animal Control' would be a nice thing to see every once in a while. These people are seldom the 'dog catchers' that they are so often made out to be. I know one who often risks her job by taking a 'euthanized' dog home and bringing it back a few days later to start a second set of 10-days. They medicate ill animals on a regular basis - no animal is ever left to languish in illness. They often keep in contact with all of the surrounding shelters in a network that sincerely tries to return pets to their homes. They are the final hope - not the grim reaper.

 

[res]

... If the animal was cuddle able, it was cuddled and held and soothed and loved on just a little bit. Sometimes the sheer numbers meant that we only had a moment or two, but never was an animal that had obviously been a loved pet, simply injected and tossed aside.
A little compassion for the people who have chosen to dedicate their lives to 'Animal Control' would be a nice thing to see every once in a while. These people are seldom the 'dog catchers' that they are so often made out to be. I know one who often risks her job by taking a 'euthanized' dog home and bringing it back a few days later to start a second set of 10-days. They medicate ill animals on a regular basis - no animal is ever left to languish in illness. They often keep in contact with all of the surrounding shelters in a network that sincerely tries to return pets to their homes. They are the final hope - not the grim reaper.

Agreed. I worked in a similar clinic years ago. We euthanized the dogs for a local township. All that were able to be loved, were loved, and their bodies disposed of with the same respect we would have given to a clients pet.

Once, and only once, thank the Lord, we had to euth an entire litter of Bloodhound puppies. Ten of them. That was an extremely hard day for everyone at the clinic, and we were all on the phone all day, up to the last minute, trying to find someone to take them. But being in a rural farming community, we just didn't have any options. This was also over 10 years ago, so "social networking" wasn't available to spread the word like wildfire. I think of that day every time someone says they want to breed their dog because the puppies would be so cute! or they know they could make a lot of money selling them! Those people needed to be there that day, holding those pups that just wiggled and licked everything, and watching their limp bodies pile on the floor after their "turn".