Foster a Hard-To-Place Dog & My Family Pets

This just breaks my heart. Please read: Christmas letter from a "hard to place" foster dog

Among trying to reach my goal of making 20 little girls in need smile with a Stella & Dot gift (which I am no where close to reaching, sadly enough), animals have always been close to my heart. I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was younger but learning how much schooling and funds were needed to get there, plus the many difficult instances of losing an animal, it was just too much.

The death of our family cat, Ali, of 22 years, happened when I was a freshman in high school. My mom had Ali before my sister was even born, I believe. She never de-clawed him and he would scratch the hell out of my legs when he leap off my lap in a hurry. We had to put him down because he had some sort of leukemia and he wasn't doing very well. He spent his last night with us in my bed. It was so hard to say goodbye to him in that Concord vet hospital on Clayton Road. I remember which cage he was in, how skinny he was and afterwards sitting in the truck with my mom and sister just crying.

Even before having to put Ali down, we had an Akita-German Shepard mixed dog named Scorpio. He was nicknamed Scorpi and named after my mother's horoscope sign. We had him since he was a puppy. We purchased two other dogs at the same time but Scorpi lasted the longest with us. We had a house in Fairfield on Rockville Road with a long, down-sloping driveway. Scorps was so playful and as young kids, he just got too big to play with. All he'd do was jump on us. When my sister and I would have to catch the bus, we'd have to run down the down the driveway and hide behind the garbage cans so he wouldn't get us dirty for school. My parents ended up going through a divorce and we had to move from the big house in Fairfield, to a house in Vallejo, to a renting a smaller house also in Vallejo. This house didn't accept dogs. My mother thought Scorpi would survive just fine 'in the wild' if we didn't take him to the pound. At that time, I believe he was over 3-years-old and she said that no one would want him. So after our house was packed, my mother had my sister (probably at 12-years-old) take Scorpi to a nearby park (Borges Ranch Park) at night as we followed in the car, unleash him and leave him as we took off in the car. Horrible, right??? I wasn't even doing the act and I couldn't imagine what my sister was feeling but I do remember us crying all the way to our rental. A place he couldn't be.

I'm not sure if my mother received a call from the new residents or the Realtor of our home in Vallejo, but Scorpi found his way back to our house and chilled on the driveway. We went to go check it out and there he was, laying in the driveway. We couldn't take it anymore and we called his name and he jumped right into the car. We took him home to our house on Georgia Street. He was in the backyard for awhile. I am not sure how long we lived in that house with him but eventually we had to move again. This time to an apartment. We couldn't take him to a park again. We had to take him to the pound - or what is appropriately called The Solano County Animal Shelter. We drove him to Fairfield. My cousin now lives down the street from this facility, so Scorps is well thought of. I could still vividly remember the last time I saw his long brown and black coat and huge bushy tail, being transported from one building to another with a stranger. It brings tears to my eyes. If I could somehow find out if he was adopted, I would love to thank the people that did. He was such a lover and I miss him.

For the longest time, I told myself that I can't have any animals. It's just too hard. And then I ended up dating a Veterinary Technician who gave me Katarina, aka MamaGirls,

and then my fiance who kept asking and asking for a dog: my Puppy Love, Bevo.

Bevo is my baby. I can't stand being away from him for more than a day or him being at home by himself for more than 10 hours.

I actually asked my fiance if we could foster a dog over the winter break that I have off next week. I want to help a lonely pup, Bevo could definitely use some play time with another dog as I haven't been successful making him doggie friends for play dates and it's too darn cold at the dog park right now. But the fiance declined. He's been asking for another dog but he wants another pure-bred. And a bigger dog, like a Boxer or Great Dane. Bevo pulls me down the street as it is at 29 pounds. I don't think I can handle a bigger dog than Beeves. I want to be like my sister and adopt our next one. I'd have to work on that with the man of the house.

If you can consider adoption versus breeders, there are some needy, adorable animals out there that could use your love and attention. If you can consider adopting a hard-to-place dog, you would have a wonderful heart. When we first adopted Bevo, we thought he was deaf. We were considering taking him to a specialist in Davis, CA to confirm. After awhile, what did it matter? We already fell in love with him. If he was going to be deaf, so what? He'd be our deaf puppy love.

Would you adopt a deaf puppy or would you return him?
Would you adopt at all?


Some links to find your next furry, family member:
Petfinder.com
Berkeley East Bay Humane Society
Homeless Animals Response Program (H.A.R.P.)
Northern California Pet Adoption

Comments

  1. I also love animals and am the parent of two beautiful kitties rescued from a hoarder. One of them has a couple lingering medical issues as a result of that living environment, but we will always love her no matter what. I would definitely adopt again, including special needs animals who need and deserve love.

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