Through the Eyes of Joanna - a Simple Story, a Simple Sucess

I was sitting in the back of my cage, it was about four feet by eight feet in length and about eight feet in height, all made of cris-crossing metal beams. The floor was some type of cheap linoleum tiling which was rather cold and slippery. In the corner was positioned a cheap, old tattered, raised dog bed; that is if you could call it a bed, and in the other corner, two dented metal bowls. On each side of me dogs were barking at the people walking down the narrow aisles passing over us "older" dogs and keeping a keen eye out for a playful puppy.

My odds were not very good. I was a two year old Pitbull Labrador mix who had already had a litter of puppies before being spayed. I was also rather plain, all tan with no markings what so ever and I was very sick. I had almost been adopted once before so I was spayed with no where to go. My "forever" home turned me down when they found out I had heartworms and various other parasites that were greatly effecting my health and not allowing me to gain the weight which was crucial for my survival.

I didn’t think that today would be any different. As always I watched many people walk down the narrow aisles and come back with a squirming puppy in there arms. Once or twice someone stopped at my cage, read my stats posted on my door gave me a sympathetic look before continuing on their journey to find their child a puppy. I didn’t mind it much, I was happy that they were leaving this hell of metal cages, funny smells and chaotic barking behind. They were destined for a family, a yard, a tennis ball, a bone, a warm bed and a purpose. My destiny was the heart stick. I was on doggie death row.

I had found out what the heart stick was from an old grizzled dog in the cage next to me. He told me that the heart stick was a syringe filled with sodium pentobarbital or "blue juice" that was stabbed into your chest puncturing the layers of nerves surrounding the heart. If they missed the heart it would surly puncture the your lungs which would slowly fill with fluid and the person administering the shot would try again to hit your heart. He continued to say that after you died you were merely thrown in a freezer and taken out with the trash. That was how I was destined to die or so it seemed.

I was trying to sleep when I heard someone call my name: Joanna. I looked up and saw a girl, she appeared to be about fifteen. This girl had long brownish hair and gentle brown eyes. I didn’t move, why should I, she was probably looking for a puppy too and had stopped to give me a sympathetic look before continuing down the aisle. I closed my eyes again but quickly opened them when I heard the click of my door being opened, she was coming in. The old grizzled dog looked over at me and said, "Joanna, sit pretty and smile and you’ll be taken home today, be good to this girl."

I decided to listen. I summoned the last bit of energy I had, sat up, wrinkled my forehead, cocked my ears forward and offered her my paw. To my surprise she took it. I turned to look back at the old grizzled dog for reassurance, but he was gone, my friend was gone. Saddened I turned and walked away sitting back down in the corner. She followed me and knelt down besides me stroking my head before she turned and walked back out into the aisle. I closed my eyes and waited for a volunteer to pull me out and walk me down to the execution room after my friend.

I heard footsteps, distinct footsteps heading toward my cage. I looked up and saw a volunteer opening my door. She slipped a rope around my neck and lead me out into the aisle. This was it, I thought, my time is up, no one wants a sick dog anyway, I was foolish to get my hopes up, for thinking that the grizzled dog was right and that the girl with the gentle eyes would bring me home. Terrified of what was to come I followed the volunteer to the fork in the hall; left to the execution room, right to the lobby and freedom. I was sure I was going to the left so I stumbled and fell flat on my nose when the volunteer turned right. What was going on? Surly someone had made a mistake, I wasn’t being adopted was I?

When we rounded the corner I saw that girl again. She was smiling as she walked up and took the rope leash from the volunteer. I followed her over to a bench where she knelt down and slipped the rope off over my head. The entrance door was partially open, I was sure I could make a run for it and go back to living on the streets but I knew I was to sick to do so and I’d surly be caught again, so I stayed. The girl took out a blue collar, it was a proper dog collar, about one inch wide and made of sturdy nylon. It felt good around my neck and I realized that this meant I was going home.

Here I am- this is me. There’s no where else on earth I’d rather be. Here I am- it’s just me and you and tonight we make our dreams come true.....

My new family consisted of two members. A girl, she was fifteen and her name was Kasey; and a woman of about forty six whose name was Lynn. Lynn made it very clear that I belonged to her daughter, not to her, that she would pay the bills, buy the food and offer an occasional pat on the head but that was it. Lynn also made it very clear that I was to live on the spacious screened in porch, not in the house, and that I had the choice to sleep in one of two dog kennels, the one in the porch or the one in the garage.

The next few months were a blur to me. I was in and out of vets offices and kept quarantined in my kennel for a month following each painful heartworm injection. Those months were rather boring but I started noticing subtle changes. I was beginning to feel better and my ribs which had previously showed weren’t showing as much as before. I also noticed I had more energy and I started becoming restless during the mandatory quarantine sessions. For the first time I wanted out, I wanted to see the world, I wanted to run, I wanted to play, I wanted to live.

Kasey began letting me wander around the enclosed porch more and more each day around Thanksgiving and around Christmas (and Kasey’s sixteenth birthday) I was fully healed and ready to go. At first walks were short and I kept being pulled on. I quickly learned that if you walk right next to your human you don’t get pulled on and the walk goes smoothly. While I was being taken around the neighbor hood and being introduced to humans and dogs alike I was taken aback by the sheer beauty of it all. The trees, the grass, the flowers, in fact I didn’t see one dark alley or dumpster at all...this place was very different from what I had seen living on the city streets and from the stories told back at the shelter. This place was paradise, my friend, the old grizzled dog, had been right. All I had been doing in the shelter was waiting, waiting for my time to come, my time to shine so I could show the world who I really was.

It’s a new world- it’s a new start, it’s alive with the beating of young hearts. It’s a new day - it’s a new plan, I’ve been waiting for you - here I am.....

In those first few months I met all my doggie friends and figured out who was nice and who wasn’t, I even got a boyfriend! I discovered the lake, though I still am unsure about swimming, and learned how to play fetch. I occasionally go on walks with Kasey, her friend Lauren and her rather off and on again Lab named Roxie. Roxie and I have a few issues to sort out but a walks a walk and I enjoy being out despite her company. Im also allowed to visit Misty on rare occasions, and listen to the old lab tell her stories about adventures she’s had with her boy Philip. Libby, an older slightly crazed, car chasing Golden Retriever, is another one of my best friends. Kasey sometimes brings Libby over to play when she’s doggie sitting her for her owners, the Barrets.

As for my love life, well honestly I have never gave much thought to the word love. At least not until I met boxer I thought was for me, but it seems like that wasn’t the way things were meant to play out. I mean things changed with time. Almost every aspect of our lives change with time but the only aspect that ever stays the same is knowing that you are either loved or have loved in the past and that fact remains ingrained inside our hearts. That’s why we defend our humans, pack members and mates, even if they have done bad things to us in the past, the fact remains that at one point in time that human, pack member or mate loved us and when they stopped loving us we will do anything to hopefully make them love us again. No matter how hard we try, we can never remove the loyalty that springs from current or past love in our life. It’s a part of our heart, and maybe part of our soul as well. Happiness, sadness, pain, almost every plausible emotion comes from that one single word. Love. I had loved once before, but when he found out I was pregnant and that the dog catchers were coming after me, he left.

I told you I had a boyfriend, your probably thinking that after reading the above paragraph I would never truly love any dog or human again. Well your wrong. Next door, in a yellow house, lives a handsome Golden Retriever named Hunter. He’s my age but a little bigger. He’s a pure bred with papers living the good life with his family and his boy Matt. Hunter and I fell in love after our first game of fetch followed by a romantic walk down the street, chaperoned of course by our humans. Our relationship is going rather well and I see a long and happy future for us together.

Humans. I never truly loved a human before. I liked them and I was afraid of them at the same time. Humans generally confused me, I found them unpredictable and never really developed the bond were I felt that I would take a hit for any human until I was adopted by Kasey and Lynn. It was a romance in a way. I knew Kasey loved me, that was easy to see by how much she fussed and fawned over me making sure I was comfortable and never in need of everything. I began to trust her during those nights after the vets when I was in quarantine and she’d sneak down at night to unlock the kennel, stroke my head and just talk to me. We adored each other, Kasey would play, bathe, feed, brush, walk, and pour affection onto me. My job was to reward each pat with the wag of my tail, each kiss with a quick lick, walk around in ridiculous clothing, fetch tennis balls, and to protect her and my yard. That bond of adoration was to be tested soon though.

Here we are- we’ve just begun, and after all this time- our time has come. Ya here we are- still goin’ strong, right here in the place where we belong.

About a month ago Kasey and I were walking around the block, just our usual routine. It wasn’t a busy day traffic wise and we had just turned out of our neighbor hood and onto the side walk by the highway that ran behind our house. We were at half way point between the neighbor hoods two entrances when a worker van slowed to our pace and cruised along beside us. The men, I took them to be anywhere from eighteen to twenty one, rolled down the window and started talking to Kasey. Personally I don’t like cars and during previous walks they always zoomed past us paying no attention to either myself or my human so I found it rather strange that these men would deliberately slow down to match our pace.

I could sense her growing uneasy which upset me even more. I did not know these men and neither did she. Suddenly the driver reached out the window towards Kasey, I did not know weather his intention was good or not so I acted almost purely on instinct. I bared my teeth, flattened my ears against my head, snarled, rocked back on my hind end and lunged at the vehicle. I landed back by my humans side, hair raised and still snarling and barking as I watched the van speed off. When I could no longer see the men’s van I wagged my tail and looked up at Kasey who promptly knelt down beside me and showered me with kisses and "good girls." After that I finally realized that In her eyes I was not only her dog, I was her friend, a member of her family and now I was her guardian and hero. I’ve been told that I'm not just her hero for not only defending her but for encouraging her on a day to day basis with my happiness, strength and determination to face life head on and not turn and run when things get rough.

Here I am- this is me, there’s no where else on earth I’d rather be. Here I am- it’s just me and you and tonight we make our dreams come true....

Kasey has now chosen a new path for my life, a career. I’m going to be a therapy dog and visit children in the hospital and the elderly in assisted living communities. Right now my forever home is looking into different places and associations where Kasey and I can get the training we need to become a certified therapy dog and are able to get to work spreading love, hope and smiles wherever we go. While we wait however, I continue to go every where with Kasey and whenever someone stops to pet me or to ask about me Kasey tells them my story and encourages them to adopt an animal from a local shelter instead of going directly to a breeder or pet store.

The truth is, the animals in the shelter desperately need a home and a little TLC. Many animals are plagued with parasites, special needs or disabilities, and anxiety. Many of the animals you see in the shelter are cases where the animal was purchased and than for one reason or another were thrown out and seen as disposable, seized in neglect cases, or surrendered for financial or personal reasons. Some were born into the streets due to careless breeding by un responsible and unreliable people. None of the animals asked for that, to be abandoned and stuck in place were they wake up every day and see bars. The animals are haunted by fear, will I be put down or survive? What does the future hold for me? I ask you how is that a life?

Please if you are considering adding an additional member to your family check the local shelters first and be an angel to an animal that needs you. Don’t buy an animal on a whim, take you time and do a little research first, owning an animal is a full time commitment and should be taken seriously. Don’t overlook the older animals, I understand everyone likes babies but why not consider bringing hope to a older animal that really needs it? Either way, any animal that you take from a shelter and add to your family and to your heart will be forever grateful for your kindness and will repay your kindness ten fold.

Good can come out of any situation and I hope that by sharing my story with you I have inspired you to go out and help the animals in your community that need it. With your help all the animals in the shelter can join in the chorus that millions of shelter pets are already singing:

Here I am- next to you and suddenly the world is all brand new. Here I am- where I’m gonna stay, now there’s nothing standing in our way. Here I am- this is me, there’s no where else on earth I’d rather be. Here I am- it’s just me and you and tonight we make our dreams come true....

Millions of animals across the states are being put down every week, you can help break this vicious cycle. It’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure that shelters, rescue centers and animal control programs are sufficiently funded to support the large numbers of animals that walk through their doors daily. Also it’s important to ensure that these programs can properly and efficiently provide the services that help both the two legged, the four legged and in some cases the three legged members of the community.

*** The italicized lyrics in this story are that of Bryan Adams’ song Here I Am ***