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The life of the shelter Lu

Toiling Away on Labor Day

Today was Labor Day, but of course our Moms don't get a day off for holidays (who would take care of us?). So today, the SPCA got in an old funny looking dog with no hair on his tail as a stray, a stray cattle dog, a stray lab, 2 'stray' dogs (a border collie mix and a retriever mix) that probably belonged to the lady since she couldn't keep her story straight as to how she found them, one dog returned that they adopted 2 days ago and couldn't give her time to adjust to a new house, plus 5 8 week old puppies. Notice that even with all these strays, no owner comes looking or even bothers to call. So as usual, we're completely packed. Luckily there were 2 or 3 adoptions today, so at least that made a little space for us. I don't know how Moms do it, they must be magic to make room for all these dogs.

So then after everyone else left for the day, Mom Maureen and Mom Liz stayed after a while to get the laundry done for the next day. There's no time to get it all done during the day, but if it's not, we don't have clean blankets the next day. So sometimes Moms stay late and finish it. Moms don't even get paid to stay late since the shelter has so little money as it is. I'm just glad to have a nice clean blanket to sleep on. I always dream that Mom is laying there with me while I sleep, that makes it a little easier to be so far away from her all night. I know someday she'll take me home, but right now all I can do is wait.

So Moms went to Mom Maureen's family's Labor Day picnic for a while tonight. They came back to the shelter after, so Mom Liz could get her car and go home. But of course, while they were here, a car pulled in and a man asked them if they worked here. He was here to drop off his cat, at 11:00 at night. He fully intended to just leave her here, in her carrier by the door. He probably wasn't expecting anyone to still be here. So Moms had him sign a release, for his '6 year old Persian cat that they had to get rid of because they lost their jobs and had to move and were having a rough time right now...' His story didn't make much sense. And of course, he couldn't make a donation, except an open bag of cat food and the carrier the cat was in. After he left, Mom Liz noticed an envelope in the bag with the food. There was a letter in it, explaining how they had to get rid of their 11 (not 6) year old cat, because of her husband having to go on disability... Basically the whole thing was a lie. They wanted to get rid of the cat, and didn't want to make a donation, so they were just going to drop her off in the middle of the night. The letter ended with, 'Please find her a good home.' Moms are sure that an 11 year old cat will be much more adoptable than the other 350 cats already there, right? People just don't understand. Imagine going from your quiet home of 11 years, where you're the only cat, to a shelter with 350 others...

So Mom finally got back to her house around 11:30. And she saw the front page of the newspaper - "Toiling Away on Labor Day" - with a large picture of a girl making coffee at Dunkin Donuts. Wow. Imagine. Having to make coffee on Labor Day. How difficult that must be. Where's the pictures of our Moms scrubbing floors, washing blankets, making our dinner, giving out medications... Where are the pictures of our Moms crying at night over where to find space the next day without having to kill anyone? These are the people who are toiling away, every day. If only everyone could actually do something for the world every day, instead of obsessing over their expensive clothes and cool cars. If only all those people, whose most important conversations involve complaining about their homework or gossiping about what someone else was wearing, could actually do something with their lives to make a difference.

Shelter Moms don't get a day off. Us dogs and cats are still here on Labor Day and Easter and Christmas, and so are our Moms. My Mom hasn't had a Christmas off in 7 years, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Our Moms don't complain about it or ask for recognition. They're just happy to be able to spend the day with us, knowing that on whatever holiday it is, we might not have a home to call our own, but we have someone who loves us. Without that, it's just another day of the year.

Free Ads?

Today was Mom's day off, so she decided to stop by on her way home from school to see us. Everyone else had already left for the day, and when we heard a familiar car pull in, we ran to the gate to see what was going on. It was Mom! We got so excited we started screaming before she even turned the car off. She took a video of us as she walked to the gate to let us out, which she'll post a link to if she can ever get it to upload. Then we took a run down to the stream where we played in the water for a while. Mom sat with us in the building and on the doghouses for a while, we're all so desperate for attention. Our Moms are with us 7-8 hours a day when they work, but they don't get a chance to give us the attention we need, so sometimes they stay later or come up on their days off. We love these times, and all try to get in close to our Moms hoping for some pets and kisses. Mom couldn't stay too long because she has animals at home to take care of too, 2 guinea pigs named Basil and Winnie, and cleaning them and paying attention to them takes all night! It's good my sisters and brothers are mostly good with small animals, because Mom loves her pigs...

So Mom gave us our goodnight hugs and kisses. Sister Blackie wouldn't come out of the one doghouse she likes to lay in sometimes to say goodnight so Mom crawled in with her. Mom remembered that Black used to do that last year, but since it was so cold over the winter our Moms had to close all the doors to keep us warm. Now that it's warm out again, the doors can be open and we can go outside at night if we want. Sister Blackie gets upset when Mom leaves and won't come out of the big doghouse to say goodbye. Mom always kneels down at the fence then to get one last goodnight kiss, and I think she was crying as she walked away again. She just doesn't understand why there's so many of us here. She doesn't see what's fair about some of us having to spend time in a kennel, when we should be laying on the sofa in someone's home. I'm lucky in that I get to stay out in a room with some of my friends at night, but my space behind the counter isn't the same as a home, and Mom knows it.

Since Mom was gone, I settled in behind my counter again and noticed the newspaper laying on the floor. It was the free ads. Moms apparently hate those, so I read some of them to see why. "Free computer moniter. Call after 3 PM" "2 cats to good home. Brother and sister, must stay together. loving and affectionate." "FREE BEAGLE, male, 1 year old. Neutered, all shots, licensed." "Free cat. Outdoor female. Calico looking, approximately 9 years old. Spayed, very friendly, needs good home." "CATS - mother and daughter, mother is grey just turned 3 on 3/23, daughter is grey with some white and white paws, going to be 2 this year." "FREE chain link fence, must remove" "FREE dirt fill. You load and haul." "FREE dog, 10 months old. Name is Buddy. Part black lab." "FREE DOG TO GOOD HOME ONLY golden retriever, female. 3 years, affectionate, outside dog." (I don't understand this one especially. How can the dog be going to a good home if she's going to be an outside dog?) "Free fire wood" "FREE HOMING PIGEONS" "Free house trailer. Comes with furniture and shed" "Free kittens. Leave message" "Male cat. 1 year old. Litter trained. Good with other animals." "FREE old Philco refrigerator" "Free topsoil, you load and haul" "Puppies, 1 male 1 female. to loving home, approximately 5 months old. Part Lab, part Poodle"

I think I see now why Moms hate the free ads so much. Any one of those dogs or cats could be going to a bad home, or worse. Moms have said that these animals get chained outside, neglected, starved, used in research labs, even used as snake food! Since people value what they pay for, what's making them care enough about a free pet to take care of it? If it's free, it's better to just get another rather than feed or get medical care for the one you have. And apparently there are research labs right around here, where people will take free animals and get paid by the labs for them. These people are called 'bunchers' and often pretend to be a happy family looking for a family pet, sometimes they even take kids with them to make it more convincing, and then turn around and sell the animal for $30 or $50 or however much they can get. And other people even take animals out of the free ads to train fighting dogs! They can take another dog and duct tape its mouth shut so that it can't fight back, and throw it in with a pit bull in training as a fighter. That way the dog gets more confidence in killing other dogs. Even other animals such as cats are used as bait. If you do an internet search on 'free to good home ads' you can find so much more info on why free ads are a BAD IDEA if you have to get rid of a pet. There are fates worse than death, and putting an animal in the free ads is as good as killing them sometimes. I'm glad that I'm safe in my 'home' and don't have to worry about being chained out or used for medical experiments.

Another Day at the Shelter

Well, things here at the shelter are about the same as usual. There's always laundry to be done (but not enought detergent to do it), platters to be made (but not enough treats for everyone to get one), floors to be scrubbed (but not enough brooms and soap to get them done), cruelties to be checked (but not enough people to check on them), phone calls to be made (but not enough time to make them), dogs to be brought in (but not enough space for them all), dogs to be adopted (but not enough money to get every one fixed before adoption). Moms are all busy as usual.

Moms always know not to say that they've seen or heard it all, because it can always get worse. Just when they think people can't get any worse, they do. Moms have heard just about every excuse in the book when it comes to people surrendering animals, I think the top 5 are: moving, divorce, allergies, no time, and 'just don't want anymore'. But once in a while there's a new one that just leaves everyone amazed. For example, there's JJ, a Husky/Rottie mix originally found as a stray, whose owner then called and said she didn't think she wanted him back anyway. He was actually picked up by Mom Liz (who saw him almost get hit by a car on a busy highway on the way to work one morning) and Mom Maureen (who happened to be right behind and could help catch him). He was adopted by a family who knew what his breed was, and who seemed like the most wonderful home for him. Every checkup sounded great. He was doing absolutely perfect. So Moms were all surprised when suddenly one day they brought him back for being 'not Rottie enough'. In fact, they were told to not even list him as a Rottie mix on petfinder, because he was more Husky. Luckily he was adopted again a few days later. This one goes on the list with 'ate my son's birthday cake' and 'doesn't match the furniture'.

This pet food recall is really bothering Moms. They never know if what they feed us today will be recalled tomorrow. And a lot of people have been donating their recalled food, as though we can eat it here. Moms do actually care about us, as though we're their own dogs at home, and they don't want us getting sick any more than anyone else does! They've had to throw away so much food lately, so that us dogs don't get sick from it. Mom Maureen can't believe how people will just donate food that they know is bad, as though we don't really matter just because we're homeless. Don't our lives matter as much as those who do have a family and a real home?