One day

Dad says it is almost my fourth birthday, but he is just guessing, because no one knows my birthday. After I was born, I was thrown away to a place people call a kill shelter. It was an ugly, sad, lonely place, and no one could be happy there. I tried to be happy, but all of my friends kept disappearing. Dad says that I was going to be killed there too, but someone took me away one day before it was going to happen. One. Day.

I don't know why people wanted to kill me and my friends. I was just a puppy. I was bouncy, and SUPER friendly, and a little clumsy (but not nearly as bad as people-babies are!), and I loved people the MOST! And I was so young and I couldn't have done anything wrong, because I didn't even have a enough time to do anything wrong yet!

Okay, I did pee on a lot of stuff back then. I might have peed on some things I shouldn't have.

But Dad says he read that 3-4 million dogs and cats are killed every year in kill shelters like the one I was in. I don't know what "million dogs" are but I don't think think they could deserve THAT! I might even be a million dog too, since I was in a kill shelter and I KNOW I didn't deserve it... I think. I REALLY didn't pay much attention to what I peed on back then. And I chewed a lot of things, too. Yeah. I was a chewer.

But think of all the places I never would have been to! I never would have known my grandma's back yard where you can dig the MOST! Or the beach near Santa Monica where I'm allowed to go and get chased by the ocean. Or Flagstaff, Arizona which smells like the the MOST pine EVER, and I want everywhere to smell like there!! And I never would have seen all of the places between where I used to live and where I live now! Maryland, and West Virginia, and Indiana (where people have the best big yards!), and Illinois and everywhere else we went... Except Texas and Oklahoma. They were SO hot and dry and I didn't really need to know those places.

And think of all the things I would have missed out on if the person who took me away that day had come just one day later! I never would have eaten all the squeaks out of a toy. Or chewed even one tennis ball. Or tasted peanut butter (Have you tried it? IT IS SOOO GOOOD!!!). And I never would have licked my now-and-forever Mom and Dad's faces when they come home (I know you're wondering, so I'll just tell you - they taste like love... and a hint of ginger-carrot). And I never would have talked Dad into writing this blog with me so that you could know what it's like to be a good doggie like me!

And without me, Mom and Dad might not know that they can take care of someone else so good. And they might not know how to work together when someone else wakes up in the middle of the night and needs extra care. And they might not know they can do it all and keep falling in love with each other. And so they might not know they should make a baby together.

One day later and and there's no me. And maybe no Mom-and-Dad... And maybe no baby on the way. But maybe also fewer things that smell like pee. So if you hate love and babies and pee, then don't worry, there are still plenty of kill shelters. But I hope one day there won't be.

Dad's Note: If you feel so moved, please consider donating to a rescue foundation. Or if you think you're in the right situation, consider giving a dog or cat a forever-home. They'll change your life.

If you have a favorite foundation, feel free to list it in a comment below. (URL links are disabled to discourage spamming.)