Yesterday I saw Shelby again, the female Rottweiler, who’s leg was amputated due to an animal trap injury. Anice, one of the volunteer walkers came inside with Shelby. She needed some help to put the Elizabethan collar back on Shelby and I was there to help. Anice told me that Shelby is really fearful. “Shelby doesn’t even want to go outside for a walk. As soon as I took her outside, she tried to pull me towards the door. Then she layed down on the ground and didn’t want to move. I feel so sad for her.” Wow, that dog really must have had a bad experience. When I put her back into her crate, Shelby turned around and layed her head on my thighs. I stroked her head several times and I could feel that Shelby felt safe. Today I returned to the shelter with the intention to walk Shelby. When I opened up the crate, Shelby stood up. I took off her Elizabethan collar so that we could go out for a walk. Yeah right! As soon as I opened the door to the outside, Shelby “hit her 3 breaks”, meaning she bocked like a goat and I couldn’t move her forward. I grabbed the leash a little bit shorter so that I could lift her up and give her a tug. She moved forward a little bit but when we were outside, she layed down on the door mat. I tried to get her up again, but Shelby was so scared, I could see her panting heavily and her eyes were filled with fear and insecurity. So rather than pulling her any further, I just stayed there with her for a few minutes but her state of mind didn’t seem to improve. Considering that this dog didn’t know me from Adam, I decided to put her back inside. After all, it was already dark and this is not the time to get a dog through her fears. When I was standing in front of her crate, I noticed that she was bleeding. I asked one of the techs about her bleeding and I received the answer that they noticed that she was bleeding earlier. “Let the vet take a look at her.” was the answer I was given. I lead her to the vet’s office and after looking at her chart, the decided that it was time to pull out the stitches. I left Shelby in the vet’s office and McKenzie handled her from there. When I saw the fear in this dog, she had me. Right away I knew that I needed to help this little dog. After all, in this disposition Shelby isn’t even adoptable. If she gets into the hands of people who feel sorry for her, she will stay trapped in this fearful mindset until the rest of her life. We humans have the capability to feel empathy for others. And many times it helps to share empathy with other human beings. But animals – dogs – don’t need that empathy. They don’t need us to feel sorry for them. They don’t need to hear our baby voice. Empathy, feeling sorry, being fearful represents low energy. And if we want a dog to overcome their fear, their insecurities, we have to be calm and assertive. We cannot feel sorry for their situation, we cannot feel sorry that they are living in a small crate, we cannot baby them and smother them with affection and love. When we do that, we keep them trapped in their insecurities and fears. Shelby doesn’t need anybody who feels sorry for her and who wants to give her affection and empathy. Shelby needs a leader who believes in her, who believes that she is a strong, confident dog. After all, she cannot be that weak because if she was, she never would have made it through the ordeal of walking with an animal trap on her leg for days and surviving a difficult surgery. She is a strong dog and she needs someone who pulls her out of this body of fear. Am I the right person? I don’t know yet but I sure could try.  

In late November, Fulton County Animal Control brought in a little Rottweiler female who had lost her leg. Everyone in the clinic was talking about the horrific picture they have seen when the little girl arrived. They told me that she got caught in an animal trap and she must had been there for several days. Her leg was almost severed and they assumed that she tried to bite it off. They had to take her leg off immediately in order to save her life.

Why do people do such cruel things to animals? How much pain must these people feel in their own life so that they can stand putting animals through all that pain?

I must admit I didn’t pay that much attention to this little Rottweiler who was given the name Shelby. Instead, I spend a lot of time with Mozelle, the female Rottweiler who had a broken leg. She wasn’t allowed to be taken out for a walk and I felt so bad for her. Therefore, I took her out of her crate, took off her Elizabethan collar and carried her to the grassy area. There I would sit down with her and watch the cars pass by. And yes I admit I gave her a lot of affection but she was a calm dog back then. It was so funny, it took Mozelle only a couple of days to recognize my voice. As soon as I walked into the building, she got up in her crate and started barking. It is amazing how quickly dogs get used to us and how they command our attention.

   

…Be ready for the answer. October 25. My husband and I were watching tv and suddenly there was a commercial for www.MyASPCA.org about homeless pets. In the background they played Sarah McClogland’s song, “In the eyes of the angel.” They showed injured dogs sitting sadly in a crate, they showed pictures of cute kittens and Sarah McClogland asked for donations for homeless pets. Have you ever seen this commercial? I saw it a few times but before I could even say a word to my husband, he switched the channel. As always, he his the man of the remote control, I am just there to go with his flow. “Why are you changing the channel?”, I asked. “I don’t like this commercial, it always makes me sad.” was his answer. “Switch it back. Changing the channels won’t change the situation at all, so you have to do something about it!”, was my reply. But his answer was, “What can I do?”  And suddenly I was reminded of Darrell Watson from Washington DC who took a sad situation “kids on the street who don’t seem to have a future” and changed it around into a beautiful thing “children making music and finding a place of growth in their marching band.” I didn’t even have to think about his question twice and immediately I blasted out, “You could go to these animal shelters and do some volunteer work.” And there it was. I felt the goose bumps crawling up my skin when I said those words. Yes, that is what I could do. Isn’t it amazing how quickly we can get an answer when we ask good questions? It is amazing that I was reminded of Darrell Watson when my husband asked me the question, “What can I do?”  Today I went to the animal shelter at the Town & Country Vet Clinic in Marietta, GA to inquire about some volunteer opportunities. “Oh we always need dog walkers. You can come here every night and walk our homeless dogs. We always need help with that”, was their answer.  Tonight my husband and I went to the animal shelter and we walked dogs for a couple of hours. I walked Darby, a really cute Boxer mix with lots of energy, Josh, who is supposedly a Doberman mix but I must admit that I don’t see a Doberman in him, and Misty, a cute and kind pit bull female who walks around with an Elizabethan collar and a body wrap since she had already 3 surgeries. One of the care takers told me that someone must have poured lighter fluid over her back and tried to burn her before she was rescued and brought to the shelter.  On our way home my husband was giggely and energetic, “I feel good about the work that we have done tonight. I had so much fun. You want to do it again?” And he just wouldn’t stop talking. But I didn’t feel that excitement and contentment and my answer was, “It wasn’t enough for me. I know I need to do more than just walking a few dogs every other night.” Immediately I felt my brain spinning and the passion boil up in my chest and in an instant I was reminded of Darrell Watson from the Ballou High School Majestic Marching Knights.