It’s National Dog Day! I’ll start with a couple of favorite photos of my most precious boy, my sweet Sayid who passed away this year on March 4th after a brave battle with Degenerative Myelopathy. He was a gift from the day my sister and I brought him home as a seven week old, ten pound butterball. Sayid was a clown, a conversationalist, an athlete, and he taught me everything I know about being a good dog mom. In his last two years, as he lost use of his back legs and needed help with the most basic of tasks, he taught me more about patience, compassion, and sacrifice than I ever would have learned otherwise. I am forever indebted to him and he will always occupy a large space in my heart.
I haven’t yet brought a new official Leporati dog into my life, but I’m getting closer to that point. I love dogs. I miss having a dog. I’m getting chunkier without a dog to walk. Before too long, I expect I’ll adopt. But that’s what I will do when the time comes – I’ll adopt.
I had toyed with the idea of fostering for a few months, and through many tears while preparing to even have another dog step into this house that wasn’t Sayid, I followed through. I offered to foster. I was asked if I’d foster two puppies, so they’d have company, and I agreed, since I was told they could share a large crate. (Sayid was large; puppies are small.) Enter Betsy and Ross (whose name was later changed to Louie).
These beautiful puppies were heading to the high kill shelter along with five others when they were, mercifully, intercepted for rescue. Four of the puppies – Betsy, Louie, and two litter mates – were designated for a rescue group in Vermont. Three others were taken by another rescue organization. Had they entered the shelter, they may or may not have been adopted locally, or may or may not have been pulled by a rescue group. It is very possible at least a few of them would have been put down. Similar beautiful litters of puppies meet that fate.
I fell in love with these puppies. They were with me 29 days. I picked them up at the shelter on Wednesday, July 10th, and dropped them off the morning of Thursday, August 8th, for transport to Vermont, where they’d each been adopted by wonderful people. Betsy boarded the truck, then Louie boarded the truck, then I went to my car and cried like I hadn’t cried since Sayid left us. It turned out being a very good thing I’d taken the whole day off from work. (Truth: if Betsy and Louie had not been designated for Vermont, it is very possible one of them would have become the next Leporati puppy.) Betsy now has a mom, dad, brother, sister, and her very own cat, who is slowly warming up to her. Ross (renamed Louie during foster in honor of Louisiana by his adoptive dad) has a dad and a dog big brother that he gets along great with. They are among the fortunate ones and I’m so thankful. After having spent a month with those two puppies, it is heartbreaking to imagine all the deserving animals (puppies, kittens, adult dogs, adult cats) who are euthanized, because of lack of space and because time is not on their side.
Sayid was a purebred Boxer and we bought him from a breeder. He was amazing. He was perfect for us. But he also had a genetic condition that manifested when he was eight years old and led to his paralysis. Any dog can end up with DM, but Boxers, Corgis, and German Shepherds are overwhelmingly the main three culprits. Pure breeds are not guaranteed to be healthier than a mixed breed dog from a shelter. I love Boxers. I may get a Boxer again someday – from a rescue.
The Ouachita Parish Animal Shelter took in 4,453 animals between January 1, 2019 and August 24, 2019. Of those intake numbers, there were 2,806 dogs, 1,559 cats, and 88 others (horses, goats, guinea pigs, etc). I assure you, not nearly enough of them are able to leave with loving families. Also, let me add that I’ve seen enough of and interacted enough with the leadership and staff at OPAS to say with absolute certainty that even those who meet their end at the shelter are treated with kindness and compassion. They do the hard work that is the result of irresponsibility, and they do this work with an incredible amount of grace.
All that to say this – please do what you can to be a solution to the problem. Adopt. Foster. (Betsy & Louie wore me out, because they were silly, hyper puppies, but fostering them was entirely worthwhile. All I had to pay for was food – and it was not expensive food; I got it at Walmart and on Amazon – and get them to the shelter for their shots a couple of times. The end. It was not hard.) Donate. The rescue organizations could use help with vet bills. The shelter could use bags of food. And please, oh please, spay and neuter your pets. 4,453 pets at OPAS in less than eight months. There is no shortage of puppies and kittens. If you want a blue eyed puppy, you are very likely to find one at a shelter. Betsy & Louie are prime examples – beautiful blue eyed puppies, surrendered. Whatever you want, you are likely to find. Please have your pets spayed or neutered and just let them be a pet and not a source of income. Call the vet and make the spay/neuter appointment. Do what you can do. There is something you can do.
lindsaylep 