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Kane only half listened to their meeting. Lexi was surprising him with her passion and genuine interest for the work she did here. Whenever he glanced over, she was deep in focus, having forgotten his presence altogether.
Most of his attention was on the window that overlooked the entrance to the shelter. In his mind, he was keeping a running log of the people that came and went. Although he didn’t believe she would be attacked here, he sure as hell wasn’t going to slack off.
Although it meant being in the line of fire, he would risk his own life if it meant saving the client.
11
When the meeting wrapped up, it was time to make the rounds. Bud yawned and stretched, gave Edward a quick nudge goodbye, then followed the two of them to the back of the building where the animals were housed.
“He seems like a good man,” Kane commented.
“Edward? He’s the best. He’s spent most of his whole life dedicated to helping animals. He even gave up a high-paying job once.”
“What was that for?”
“Some cooperate thing. They saw how well he was running this place and tried to steal him away. They offered three times the salary he has now but Edward turned them down. Said they didn’t need him, but there were plenty of animals who did.”
Their conversation was coming a little easier now, the few hours spent with Edward having seemed to have relaxed them both. The definite edge that had been there this morning had faded somewhat.
They arrived at the kennels where Kane was immediately hit by the overwhelming smell of dog. The room was of average height, but it stretched out like a barn. Kennels flanked either side of the room housing all breeds of dogs, though every other one seemed to be of the same type.
Catching him staring, Lexi explained.
“Pit Bulls are still the number one breed that end up unwanted. A lot of people get them to fight with, but when many prove they have no aptitude for it, they get dumped on the streets or people assume their personality will reflect their ‘tough’ look. The public are still pretty uneducated about their nature as they tend to make great family dogs. You’ll get the occasional aggressive one, of course, but that’s true of all breeds. At the end of the day, their upbringing has a lot to do with it.”
Kane stared into the kennel of a particularly sad Pit Bull. His ribs protruded from his body while the white of his eyes seemed far too bright. His chest heaved too quickly, panting and highly distressed. Kane clenched his fist, hating the dog’s pain.
“Hey, Boy. It’s OK. We’re not going to hurt you.”
He kept his voice low and friendly, attempting to soothe some of his distress but the dog just whimpered and turned his back on them, hoping they would go away.
“That one’s been here for several months now. He was found in a junkyard, living in a totaled car. You can’t see it now but his neck had been covered in rope burns. We’re not sure of his entire backstory, but it seems likely that he’d been tied up for a long time but managed to escape. He was severely malnourished and dehydrated when he was rescued. We’ve tried to get close to him but he’s too scared for human contact which makes him unadoptable.”
“What happens to the ones who can’t get along with humans?”
“This is a no-kill shelter so they won’t be euthanized, but it does mean that potentially, he could spend the rest of his life in a cage. It’s no life at all, really.”
Sticking close to Kane’s side, Bud wasn’t his normal bouncy self. His body shook, plagued by his own memories of being in a place like this once. He shoved his nose into the back of Kane’s hand, seeking comfort.
“You’re good, Boy. This won’t happen to you again.”
They stopped by a brown Labrador Retriever next with only three legs. Where the fourth should be, there was a stump that was bandaged. Despite whatever had happened to her she seemed relatively happy. Tail wagging, she half hopped, half walked up to them.
“This one’s Delilah. Someone had dumped her outside in the middle of the night. We think she’d been hit by a car. Her leg was amputated, but she’s otherwise in good shape.”
Kane slipped his hand through the wire fencing as Delilah shoved her head against it, craving his attention. Bud moved up close to the fence and whined. Delilah turned her attention to him. The dogs’s noses touched as they introduced themselves in their own particular way.
“She’s sweet. Won’t she be easier to re-home?”
“Not necessary. People will be afraid of any ongoing medical costs for her but since she’s such a sweetheart, I’m hoping she’s one of the ones I can get re-homed at the party since no one there should have an issue with the cost.”
Kane looked out across the room, feeling a rage building in his heart. There were so many animals that needed help, far too many to even count.
When he adopted Bud, he knew it would be a lifelong commitment, but it hadn’t phased him one bit. One look into his eyes, at the first lick of Bud’s tongue when he wouldn’t go near anyone else, Kane had been sold. From that moment on, he knew he’d do right by his friend. How then, was it possible for so many other people in the world to have tossed aside their own pets as if they were nothing more than garbage?
A skinny teenager came by pushing a cleaning cart. He tucked stringy shoulder length hair behind his ear as he shot Lexi a shy smile. Half of his face was covered with the kind of unfortunate acne that made Kane have a flashback of a time when he’d suffered the same. He wanted to tell the kid to hang in there, that there was hope for the future, but knew it would only embarrass him.
When Lexi smiled back at him, his cheeks turned red, which only made his acne stand out more. Poor guy had a crush on her though she acted like she didn’t notice — however hard it was not to.
