Unchain Them

I picked up a puppy today. No, he isn't "my breed". Nor did I really
have the room or need for another, yet I still picked him up. I picked
him up from what can only be described as a hell hole. I looked down at
him there, sitting so scared. Shaking and frightened. I looked at him as
she lifted him, his belly and body full of fleas and ants. I looked at
the sores on him from being eaten alive from the bugs and I picked him
up. I held him against me, impervious to the bugs crawling on me now. I held him and waited for him to stop quivering. I held him and whispered in his ear that everything would be ok now, even though I was not sure it would. He rides well in the car, sitting there wondering where the mud, feces and urine he is used to sitting in went. Looking around, looking like a bunny rabbit with a home docked tail and a huge wormy and malnourished belly. He is barely 6 weeks old, he should be rolling and playing in the grass with his brothers and sisters, yet I assure you he never saw grass before tonight.

I picked up a puppy today. I put him in the bath, I am sure the
first one he has ever seen. I shed tears to go along with the blood that
filled his bath water from his anemic little body. I crowed to him
softly, watching him looking at me, his eyes filled with wonder and
trust. I held him tight against me wrapped in that towel, trying not to
notice that his body still had fleas crawling all over. Promising him if
it killed me, I would get them off. Promising him that I would do
everything I could to help him feel better.

I picked up a puppy today. I watched him with wonder as he dove
into the bowl of food. Clean food, that filled his tummy. Good food that gave him the nourishment he so greatly needs. I watched his belly swell, more from food than worms now. I watched him lay down in a warm dry place, away from bugs and burning heat and mud and urine and feces. I watched him as he sighed contentment as he drifted off into a dream I can only begin to imagine.

I picked up a puppy today. One that I don't know if I can pull
through, one that I didn't want or need. Yet I still picked him up and
if I had to do it again tomorrow I would. I would hold him and comfort
him and wash his little body. I would do it again for 100 days if it would mean anything to this one little puppy.

I picked up a puppy today. And tomorrow, there will be another.

In honor of the gentle quiet soul of the little Blue Heeler puppy that
is sleeping cool and safe and full for the second night of his life.

Nikki Chastain
Central Arkansas
RecycledK9s German Shepherd Rescue
Our Animals For Adoption On Petfinder!
"Love can't be bought, But it can be adopted."

I am only a back-yard dog,
I am sure you will agree
I'm cheaper than a security door
That's why these folks have me

I never get out for a walk,
I'm fed on table scraps.
My water bowl is getting low,
They'll fill it up-perhaps.

I bark when people come around,
To frighten them away.
I know I can't get to the front,
And so, I'm sure do they.

My parents both were cattle dogs,
From Queensland way they came,
They worked the mobs in heat and dust,
I'd like to do the same.

There is no joy in this back-yard,
At times it makes me spit.
To think I'm doing solitude,
For a crime I didn't commit