Jake here! As Maria wrote in a post yesterday, today is Petfinder’s Adopt the Internet Day. Bloggers worldwide are being asked to write something, anything, about pet adoption so more people will adopt their next pet. And if you click here, you can find out what you can do today to help spread the word about adoption.
I have always fancied myself rather gifted with the written word, so I will try my paw at a poem about my early life to help drive home the message of the day. Since we have pledged to only write about adoption today, this will be the one blog post of the day on the dog blog. But I will try to make it worth your while.
The Rime of the Adopted Dog
(With apologies to Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
The cops found me alone and lost
In a bad part of the city.
I had had a decent home
But now things were quite gritty (I dont swear!).
They put me in a wire cage
And took me for a ride.
If not for my wagging tail
I think I might have cried.
In a loud room filled with barking dogs
I had to wait and wait
For my family to come claim me
But that would not be my fate
They never showed, they never called
They didn’t seem to care.
How could they let me stay in here
When they were right out there?
The shelter had so many dogs
It would crowd up and then
One by one would take a walk
And not come back again.
One day a lady stopped and stared
And asked to take me out.
Would this be the final walk
I had so worried about?
Would this be the end of me?
The mellow yellow pup?
With love to give and life to live
Was my number already up?
We started walking down the aisle
Past dogs with eyes so pleading
I could not bear to think
Of all the homes that they were needing.
Why were they here and not out there?
Did they really deserve this?
Where were their homes, their families?
No wonder they looked nervous.
Down the aisle with head hung low
I slunk to face my fate
But then she took me in her arms
And walked me through a gate.
We played and snuffled for an hour
At last she said to me,
How about I take you home
And find you a new family?
As we walked out that cold fall day
I had to wonder why
I had gotten so lucky when
So many others would die.
She found me a forever home
Its been eight great years since then
But every so often in a bad dream
Im back in the shelter again.
And so I ask you humbly,
To help end all this strife,
To adopt, to rescue, not to buy
In short, to save a life.
By Jake
I hope you liked this. It’s one thing to write poetry, quite another to type it without opposable thumbs.
Last night Maria and I looked through hundreds of photos of dogs who are ready to go to their own forever homes. You can see them on the Petfinder Internet All-Star Gallery. I personally would adopt so many of these dogs if I could. They are so cute and sweet and loving and good. Check them out, or pass the link on to someone who is thinking about getting a dog. The life you save could be your next best friend’s.
