Drinking from a firehose

So there we were, leaving work, when a black lab appears from between our office building and the empty building next door. I look around, but fail to see or hear anyone walking around. The dog comes close and although he's a bit skittish, he seems friendly enough. I can see he's wearing a collar with a tag of some sort. He starts to head for the road, which is busy with rush-hour traffic, and I say something to him and he comes back. He lets me check collar to see if I can find his name and owner. He has only one tag though, and it is from the Michigan Humane Society. jebra is on his way to SEMiSLUG and doesn't want to be late, but I don't want to leave the dog running around the neighborhood and possibly getting hit by a car. I ask if he'd be willing to take the dog to the shelter and he says he wouldn't say no if I said I wanted to. I know he really wants to get to his meeting and close my car door, but the dog is still there, looking at me with his big, dark eyes. I say, "Yes, I want to take him; the shelter should still be open." I get out, open the passenger door, and ask the dog if he wants to go for a ride. He hops right in.

The shelter is only a half mile from work. We drive over with the dog calmly standing on the back seat. jebra stops near the handicap entrance since he knows it'll be easier on my knees and I'll have a hold on the dog's collar as we go up to the building. The dog seems to know where he is and eagerly walks up the ramp.

We go in and there's much confusion. The women behind the front desk don't know what to do, neither one has had to deal with a stray before. They call someone from the back to come and help them with the forms and the computer system. The dog's record is eventually found in the computer system, but it's after 5:00 and they've already closed for the night. So although they'll accept the dog from me, no one will call the owner until tomorrow. I am upset by this as if it were me, I'd want to know. For one thing, I expect I'd be up all night worrying and searching for my missing dog.

I also have to fill out the form to "surrender" the dog. I am not pleased by this. For one thing, I need to get back to the car and let jebra get to his meeting. For another, I am not the owner and I don't want to surrender the dog. I want to keep him. If it weren't for the thought that his owner is out looking for him and that it'd be better for the dog if he were reunited with his people, I wouldn't have brought him back to the shelter. I would have simply taken him home with me and hope that our cats wouldn't be too badly freaked out with the newest member of the family.

I tell the folks at the shelter that if the owner doesn't want him back, I want them to let me know. The dog's well behaved (except, possibly, for a habit of running away from home). He knows the commands sit and lay down. Shake hands just got a blank look. And other than pulling a bit, he walks well beside his humans. I didn't notice any aggression, just a bit of excitement when he heard the other dogs in the kennel and a whine that told me he wanted to play.

I hope he has good owners and that they will come get him tomorrow. If they don't want him back, I want to know. Although it'll piss me off that I'll have to pay the adoption fee if I take him. That's not good as, in effect, it punishes me for doing the right thing and turning in the dog. I could have simply kept him for free.

So there we were, leaving work, when a black lab appears from between our office building and the empty building next door. I look around, but fail to see or hear anyone walking around. The dog comes close and although he's a bit skittish, he seems friendly enough. I can see he's wearing a collar with a tag of some sort. He starts to head for the road, which is busy with rush-hour traffic, and I say something to him and he comes back. He lets me check collar to see if I can find his name and owner. He has only one tag though, and it is from the Michigan Humane Society. jebra is on his way to SEMiSLUG and doesn't want to be late, but I don't want to leave the dog running around the neighborhood and possibly getting hit by a car. I ask if he'd be willing to take the dog to the shelter and he says he wouldn't say no if I said I wanted to. I know he really wants to get to his meeting and close my car door, but the dog is still there, looking at me with his big, dark eyes. I say, "Yes, I want to take him; the shelter should still be open." I get out, open the passenger door, and ask the dog if he wants to go for a ride. He hops right in.

The shelter is only a half mile from work. We drive over with the dog calmly standing on the back seat. jebra stops near the handicap entrance since he knows it'll be easier on my knees and I'll have a hold on the dog's collar as we go up to the building. The dog seems to know where he is and eagerly walks up the ramp.

We go in and there's much confusion. The women behind the front desk don't know what to do, neither one has had to deal with a stray before. They call someone from the back to come and help them with the forms and the computer system. The dog's record is eventually found in the computer system, but it's after 5:00 and they've already closed for the night. So although they'll accept the dog from me, no one will call the owner until tomorrow. I am upset by this as if it were me, I'd want to know. For one thing, I expect I'd be up all night worrying and searching for my missing dog.

I also have to fill out the form to "surrender" the dog. I am not pleased by this. For one thing, I need to get back to the car and let jebra get to his meeting. For another, I am not the owner and I don't want to surrender the dog. I want to keep him. If it weren't for the thought that his owner is out looking for him and that it'd be better for the dog if he were reunited with his people, I wouldn't have brought him back to the shelter. I would have simply taken him home with me and hope that our cats wouldn't be too badly freaked out with the newest member of the family.

I tell the folks at the shelter that if the owner doesn't want him back, I want them to let me know. The dog's well behaved (except, possibly, for a habit of running away from home). He knows the commands sit and lay down. Shake hands just got a blank look. And other than pulling a bit, he walks well beside his humans. I didn't notice any aggression, just a bit of excitement when he heard the other dogs in the kennel and a whine that told me he wanted to play.

I hope he has good owners and that they will come get him tomorrow. If they don't want him back, I want to know. Although it'll piss me off that I'll have to pay the adoption fee if I take him. That's not good as, in effect, it punishes me for doing the right thing and turning in the dog. I could have simply kept him for free.

If you're interested in the fate of Vick's dogs and/or pit bull rescue in general, this article in the LA Times is worth reading.

My memory is shot to hell. I know I'm missing at least a year thanks to sleep apnea, but there are days things still don't register. Or things register for a while, then they drift off to who-knows-where. The missing memory currently vexing me is concerns a tv detective who recently (i.e., earlier this season) adopted a dog from the SPCA or Humane Society. I remember the dog is mostly white and looks to be at least part pit bull, but that's *all* I can remember. I can't tell you what show this was on, which detective adopted him, I can't even tell you if the detective was black or white. He was male though -- I remember that much. I think I've narrowed the show down to Law & Order or L&O:SVU. Does anybody out there know who adopted the dog? I'm hoping it was one of the guys on L&O not SVU. If was SVU, I fear it was Chester Lake. If it was Lake, it just makes me all the more pissed about the season finale.

My memory is shot to hell. I know I'm missing at least a year thanks to sleep apnea, but there are days things still don't register. Or things register for a while, then they drift off to who-knows-where. The missing memory currently vexing me is concerns a tv detective who recently (i.e., earlier this season) adopted a dog from the SPCA or Humane Society. I remember the dog is mostly white and looks to be at least part pit bull, but that's *all* I can remember. I can't tell you what show this was on, which detective adopted him, I can't even tell you if the detective was black or white. He was male though -- I remember that much. I think I've narrowed the show down to Law & Order or L&O:SVU. Does anybody out there know who adopted the dog? I'm hoping it was one of the guys on L&O not SVU. If was SVU, I fear it was Chester Lake. If it was Lake, it just makes me all the more pissed about the season finale.