As Jackie and I went to an animal adoption center, neither of us really expected to walk away with another animal to add to our small, unconventional family. Walking up and down the isles of cages we were immediately drawn to the puppies, the cuter the better. Their energy and attentiveness made it hard to not notice and be drawn to them. We had been down the road of a young dog before. A week prior to this escapade to the center was where this whole thing really started.
The first trip to the center was very interesting. Being an animal person it was very easy to get sucked into trying to adopt "the perfect dog." While it may seem obvious I feel it important to state that there is no such thing as the perfect anything. Everything has it's flaws and finding true love in any aspect of life is about acknowledging the flaws of a person, or in this case animal, and seeing how those flaws help to bring out things in you. During this visit I found a Border Collie mix. What drew me to this dog were the same characteristics that appeal to anyone looking for a new dog; alert, tail wagging and happy to be noticed. Petunia was a beautiful dog and I wanted to get to know her better. It seems that every visit to the center the majority of the people you interact with are volunteers rather than paid staff, which speaks numbers about what the company is all about. I found a volunteer and she took me outside with Petunia, allowing me to get to know her in a 10" x 50" (roughly) outdoor pen. She was spunky, one of the more excitable dogs I had ever seen, not at all the commercialized view of the type of dog you'd find at a adoption center. I wanted her. In order to adopt a dog, there is an interview process to see if your lifestyle fits what the animal needs for their own well-being. The interview lasted about 30 minutes, and at the end I received the stamp of approval for Petunia. I just needed to wait 3 days for her to be spayed. During that time I came to grips with the reality that this energetic dog would not do well in the environment I had to offer, an apartment were everyone works 8 hour days. I then had to make the call to pass on Petunia, which was extremely difficult for me. However both Jackie and I knew it was the right thing to do. We could not support the active lifestyle Petunia the Border Collie would lead. I did not lose heart in finding a dog to help fill the apartment Jackie and I have called home for a year.
Everyone has seen the commercials with pictures of animals who appear sad, and they are always shown through the bars of their cells. Until going to one of these adoption centers it doesn't quite hit you. I always found the videos being shot on the other side of the bars as cheap and manipulative, however it accurately depicts the view you have of these animals. Before all of this, I had never been to an animal adoption facility. The idea had always appealed to me, take home an animal that is in need rather than one that is bred to be sold in a pet store. I am sure most of the dogs we saw during our trips to the adoption center started in stores, but something must have gone wrong. In most cases the dogs were bought in stores, and during this economic downturn relinquished to adoption agencies.
During another trip to the center we looked at all the new puppies that were there. Walking up and down the isles, trying to base a 10 year decision on the looks and behaviors of what we thought would be a good dog. We did what most people would do, if a dog was asleep or looked sickly or beaten down by life, we kept walking. To this day I cannot tell you what drew me to Ruby, she was nothing like the dogs we were looking for, she was extremely shy and scared. A volunteer was passing by and noticed we were looking at her, she acknowledged that Ruby was shy but insisted she had a big heart. When the volunteer entered Ruby's cage, Ruby was hesitant but I could see she was happy to have someone notice her. When the volunteer sat down with Ruby Jackie and I saw how Ruby wanted to be loved and be a dog, but had somehow lost her way. Only the very tip of her tail wagged, it was more of a flick, the rest of her tail was tucked between her legs as she stood there shaking in fear and uncertainty. Her nipples hung from her rib cage, which was clearly visible from the other side of the bars we were observing through. Emaciated is the only word to describe how Ruby appeared. This is not the spunky puppy I was hoping for in my life, but something inside of me was drawn to Ruby. What could have happened that altered Ruby so much, to make her so scared, and can we fix her?
For the second time we went in for an interview for adopting a dog. After approval to take Ruby home, it was disclosed to us that Ruby did not come to the adoption center alone, she had a brother. Several days after the owner relinquished ownership, he returned for the brother. From all accounts, when Ruby's brother saw the original owner he coward in fear and urinated on the floor, hiding behind one of the volunteers he had known only days. As if that weren't heart breaking enough, during her time at the center Ruby had been spayed, though we learned that when she was relinquished, Ruby was pregnant. She did not give birth, the babies were destroyed during the spay surgery. She may not have completely understood she was pregnant, but all mothers can feel when something is there, and when it is gone. This must have brought Ruby to a new emotional low. Such insight into how Ruby's life must have been before coming home with us helped us to see just why we wanted her to come home. She needed us, in stark contrast to my "need" for a puppy.
She shook the whole ride home, petrified of the unknown and with the unknown. What was in-store for both her and these new people in her life? As of writing this, I still cannot fully understand the repercussions of bring Ruby home. I thought of Ruby as a new member of the family Jackie and I had created. It was not until hours after we got home, as I was walking Ruby that I began to understand the relationship we were building.
As I was walking Ruby we came across a stream, the water was flowing quickly from heavy rain earlier that morning, birds were chirping, and for the first time I saw Ruby perk up. Her tail became unglued from between her legs and moved from side to side like a pendulum keeping perfect time. She held her head up to fully take in everything around her. Bringing Ruby home was not about Jackie and I adding to our family, it was about giving Ruby a family and a safe-haven from the hardships she had already had to live through at 18 months old.
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