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16
Lila
AnotherSaturdaymorning.Anothervolunteer shift. But first, I rushed through the rescue, peeking around every corner in case a certain someone had switched his shift again.
Spoiler alert. He hadn’t.
It was for the best. I was here for the dogs. Nothing else. I reached the end of the kennel, checking each cage. “Good week, guys. Six of your buddies found homes. Let’s hope they’re good ones.”
The barking chorus echoed off the cement walls, the excitement buzzing through the kennel. They knew what would happen today. I spent one-on-one time with each dog outside. We walked. We played. We cuddled. Whatever they preferred, it was their time. They chose what they wanted to do. It was probably one of the only times they could feel a semblance of freedom of choice.
Cami howled, but that quickly turned into a warble.
“Okay, okay, girl. I’m coming.”
“I’m sure someone will adopt you today, sweetie. You just keep serenading them with that howl you inherited from your wolf ancestors.” I stuck my hand into her cage and patted her head. She smiled at me—okay, it wasn’t a smile, but it was in my mind—and before I could remove my fingers, she gave it a dainty kiss.
“Why, thank you. Such a lady.”
“Owooooo,” she howled with her muzzle pointed upward.
There was only one dog I didn’t recognize. The Shih Tzu sat quietly in her cage, leaning slightly to one side. Her beige fur was long, crusted with dirt, and matted throughout. Her head moved from side to side each time a dog barked, but she didn’t seem to notice me standing in front of her.
“Hello, newbie. Can you even see with all that fur covering your eyes?”
The info tag on her door said she had arrived last night. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” I let her get used to my voice. I didn’t want to startle her by barging into her cage, especially if she couldn’t see. She had already been ripped away from everything she had ever known and loved.
Damn people who could abandon a helpless living creature. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the anger away on a slow exhale. This wasn’t the time or place to focus on negative emotions.
“You’re very pretty,” I told the Shih Tzu the way you would speak to a newborn.
She cocked her head to the side.
I kept my tone as soothing as possible. “I’m going to come in now.”
She cocked her head to the other side.
I opened her door, and the metallic click prompted yet another head turn. I bent down a couple of feet away from her and slowly brought my hand near her tiny black nose to sniff.
She didn’t even bother. Instead, she bent forward and rubbed her head into my palm. My heart broke into a million little pieces to see her desperate need for affection.
It hurt to see any dog in a shelter, but it was always worse with the older ones. How could you throw away your pet? Your faithful companion? It took a cold person to discard a loyal member of the family.
That’s unforgivable in my books. Not very psychiatrist of me to be so judgmental, but when it came to these little furry bundles of joy, I had no sympathy for whatever issue someone was going through to warrant such behavior. All issues could be fixed with time and work. But abandoning a pet was forever.
I normally never wished ill on anyone. But today, I hoped Karma was real and that these people got what was coming to them. They said Karma was a bitch, after all.
I picked up the trusting old pooch, and she settled very comfortably in my arms as I carried her downstairs for her spa treatment. “Aren’t you the sweetest little thing?”
She didn’t once complain when I placed her in the tub, hosed her down, and lathered her up with doggie shampoo. Once all clean and rinsed, I brushed her and removed as many knots as possible without pulling too much on her fur.
Lastly, I cut the matted bangs off so she could see. “And let there be light.”
She looked around her surroundings with her little button eyes as if searching for…someone. I watched for signs she might be scared. Or aggressive.
Not a trace of it. She craned her neck, scanning in all directions.
Finally, as if she had given up searching for the one she was looking for, she turned her head and looked up at me with her tiny brown eyes. Old eyes, but alert and wise. And sad.
