By Joanna D. Samson, FOTAS Vice President
I used to have a home, and then I lost it. I went on a ride with my human—one of my favorite things to do, by the way—and the next thing I knew, the car was gone and so was the human. I was confused. I didn’t know what to do, so I started walking.
By the time the nice men in the big truck picked me up, I had been walking for days. I was tired and scared out of my wits. I was also hungry, so there was no way I could turn down the treats the nice men offered me, even if it meant they caught me, which they did. I figured they would take me home, so I curled up for a little shut-eye before the big reunion.
As it turns out, the nice men in the big truck did not take me home; they took me to big building called a Shelter full of barking dogs and people I didn’t know. I was really scared until Kathy, the FOTAS lady, came along. I had picked up some nasty fleas, and I was itching like crazy. But that Kathy is a miracle worker. She lathered my whole body up with soap, and all those blasted fleas disappeared like magic! Whoa! I decided right then and there that there were humans as nice as my human, maybe even nicer if they could get rid of fleas and remember to put me back in the car, and maybe I should give them a chance.
But no one wanted me. Sure, Kathy and the volunteers played and walked with me, but day after day, I watched my pals go to their new homes—not one person ever even stopped by my kennel. It was so depressing, I stopped even looking up when people came through the door.
So when Kathy told me some college kids needed some dog love to de-stress, I knew I could help; I know a thing or two about stress—big time. Kathy took me and two pals to a place called a college. Someone had come up with this brilliant idea, you see, to charge each student $1 to “Pet a Pup,” and for the whole afternoon, all these cool kids lined up to play with us. They paid a buck and I got all the belly rubs! Plus, the college donated all those dollar bills to buy us more treats and toys! What kind of deal is that? The best deal, that’s what.
And I tell you what else: those kids were as happy to rub my belly as I was to be rubbed because they missed their own dog pals at home. How cool is that? But I have to confess: I was flat-out exhausted from all those belly rubs, so I conked out in the car on the way back.
What a day—kids, car rides and belly rubs. Now, if someone will just take me home, life will be grand.
Damon has recently been adopted and now lives happily with his new humans. We love a happy ending.
Their lives are in our hands.
