A blue-eyed puppy

I don't know about your house, but at ours, any one of Animal Planet's "Animal Cops" series are a guaranteed hit.  The boys, myself, and if he's really honest, husband-dear as well, are all suckers for sad, lost, abandoned, or just really cute animals.

Here in Georgia we, unfortunately, get our fill of sad, abandoned, lost, and abused animals. Maybe I'm just the Caroline Channing of animal-lovers, but I just cannot get used to seeing dogs chained up in 90F heat under a tree the size of a hatstand, strays covered in mud wandering out in the road, and the crates and crates of puppies waiting for a new home on PetSmart's Adoption Days. Which, if you live in middle Georgia, are held every Saturday.

This is of course, no bueno for my dog-loving-heart. In fact, if it were up to me, I would have been known as the crazy dog lady years ago, as I would have easily adopted every single dog that gets left behind on the weekly Adoption Day. Fortunately, husband-dear's heart is made of sturdier stuff, which leads him to saying common-sensical things like "Honey, we already have two adoptees at home", and "Where would you put the third crate?", and of course, "How would we pay to move them when we do?". So far, he's always won, and so I've instead been donating bags and bags of dog food, paper bags, old towels and sheets, and lamented the fact that we don't live on a farm with ten acres of land for all the needy puppies.


So this morning, when I spotted a very wet and muddy yellow dog wandering around by the side of the road, looking sad and definitely very lost, my doggie-adoring heart leaped, and without considering the possibility of other cars, cyclists, or runners on the road (because, well, who does around here), pulled over on to the shoulder. The dog didn't quite know what to make of the "Here puppy! Come here! Come here, sweetie!" , and keeping his bright blue eyes fixed on me, meandered from yard to yard, narrowly missed by two inattentive drivers, and finally turned into a driveway filled with trucks and vans. Relieved that the dog had apparently found his home, I bounded up the driveway, only to be confronted with the lady of the house and a crew of painters asking me if the dog that has just laid down next to one of the cars was mine. Well, no, and so much for a happy ending. But at least we were in the south, which meant that the woman not only brought out a phone book, but looked up the number of the shelter for me, and then brought the pup some water and kibble.

Four phone calls later, the county animal control was on the way, and the blue eyed puppy was seriously starting to warm up to me, and well, I to her. Or him. I'm not sure. She rolled on her back, pushed her nose up against me, and watched me like a hawk. Whenever I would get up to see if animal control was pulling up, she would follow. If I would sit down, so would she. And when animal control finally did turn into the driveway, little miss puppy stuck by my side.

As the pup turned out to be un-chipped (and collar-less), the animal control officers had no choice but to take her with them. The kicker? The three (three!) county shelters are so full of lost dogs, they have no choice but to euthanize those dogs that are not picked up by their owners or set aside for adoption. Oh, and how long before this decision is made? Four business days. Four! Let me tell you, I felt just great as I sat on the tailgate of the truck so the little stray would follow me, jump up on the tailgate, and could be guided into the crate in the back without the use of a net and a rope. Oh yeah, what a confidence booster that was.

Once I got home, I immediately texted my mother-in-law with a picture of the dog, to see if she would take her in. But as they are moving, that was a no go. I called some of the non-profit shelters in the area, as well as our vet, and our kennel, but no one has heard about a lost husky-mix, has room, or knows of any one who wants to adopt a dog either. It's just heart breaking.

Friends on Facebook have already begun waging bets on whether or not husband-dear and I will be buying a third crate, dog bed, and dog bowl on Sunday night. The odds are looking pretty good right now, in case one of you all want to jump in.