Stop, Thief
Al and I walked to the park today. The park is just down the street from my house and it was a nice day, so we packed up all our gear and off we went. We were about halfway to the park when we passed a house. From the garage we heard barking, and as Hallie loves all things dog I said, "Listen Hallie, do you hear the doggy?" She got excited so we stopped for a minute, and that's when I noticed the yard.
It looked worse than ours does, which is really saying something. The house itself looked creepy and unkempt, (think the house kids avoid on Halloween...) I just looked and looked at that house trying to put my finger on just exactly what it was that looked so wrong about it. Then it occurred to me: it looked neglected, completely abandoned.
So what were those dogs doing in the garage then? I said to Al, "I hope these people take better care of their dogs than they do of their yard." I was quickly calculating in my head what options I had for rescuing these poor dogs.
We went on to the park, and I resolved to take a closer look on the trip home. If they were still in there barking their heads off I would sneak off to the store and at least bring them some food and water, I figured that would be a good start.
On our return trip from the park as we neared the house I began plotting to rip open the garage door, take the dogs home and keep them in our backyard until I could find someone to give them a loving home. (Devin is not, shall we say, a "dog person". Highly not.) But this time as we neared the house I saw a very official looking van pull up on the street in front of the house. I could see that it was some sort of Animal Control from the city. I tried to walk past. Really, I did. But my feet stopped in between the van, and the house.
I guess something about the way I stared alternately between the man in the van and the dogs in the garage sent a message that I wanted to talk. He rolled down his window and I marched over. "What's going to happen to those dogs?" I asked him. Before he answered he tried to find out what I knew about the people who lived there. I answered his questions the best I could - I knew literally nothing, except that there were two dogs in the garage, and the yard looked terrible and the house was scary in a "no one loves me" kind of way.
Once I made sure that he would take good care of the dogs, that they would go to the Humane Society to be adopted if no one came to claim them in the next two or so weeks, I unwillingly made my feet take me home. I am still so worried about those little dogs. Luckily, they are really cute and their bark really isn't annoying at all, and I'm almost positive they would never bite.
So, if you're husband isn't totally anti-dog go out and adopt a dog. Like, tonight. Or sometime after the next two weeks. Otherwise, I really might have to steal them. And hide them in my backyard. And my mom tried really hard to raise me honest, and it would be a shame to ruin all her hard work now.
It looked worse than ours does, which is really saying something. The house itself looked creepy and unkempt, (think the house kids avoid on Halloween...) I just looked and looked at that house trying to put my finger on just exactly what it was that looked so wrong about it. Then it occurred to me: it looked neglected, completely abandoned.
So what were those dogs doing in the garage then? I said to Al, "I hope these people take better care of their dogs than they do of their yard." I was quickly calculating in my head what options I had for rescuing these poor dogs.
We went on to the park, and I resolved to take a closer look on the trip home. If they were still in there barking their heads off I would sneak off to the store and at least bring them some food and water, I figured that would be a good start.
On our return trip from the park as we neared the house I began plotting to rip open the garage door, take the dogs home and keep them in our backyard until I could find someone to give them a loving home. (Devin is not, shall we say, a "dog person". Highly not.) But this time as we neared the house I saw a very official looking van pull up on the street in front of the house. I could see that it was some sort of Animal Control from the city. I tried to walk past. Really, I did. But my feet stopped in between the van, and the house.
I guess something about the way I stared alternately between the man in the van and the dogs in the garage sent a message that I wanted to talk. He rolled down his window and I marched over. "What's going to happen to those dogs?" I asked him. Before he answered he tried to find out what I knew about the people who lived there. I answered his questions the best I could - I knew literally nothing, except that there were two dogs in the garage, and the yard looked terrible and the house was scary in a "no one loves me" kind of way.
Once I made sure that he would take good care of the dogs, that they would go to the Humane Society to be adopted if no one came to claim them in the next two or so weeks, I unwillingly made my feet take me home. I am still so worried about those little dogs. Luckily, they are really cute and their bark really isn't annoying at all, and I'm almost positive they would never bite.
So, if you're husband isn't totally anti-dog go out and adopt a dog. Like, tonight. Or sometime after the next two weeks. Otherwise, I really might have to steal them. And hide them in my backyard. And my mom tried really hard to raise me honest, and it would be a shame to ruin all her hard work now.
Hey Ames! Wow. That is so sad. People can be so cruel. I'm glad animal control is going to take care of the dogs. I hope they get adopted soon! And although it seems harsh to say, I'm sure being put to sleep (if they don't get adopted) is nothing compared to the pain of starving to death like they would have eventually locked in the house.
ReplyDeleteYou have such a nice neighborhood, too. You can find cruelty anywhere. :(
On the flip side, I am going to sound like one of our anonymous commenters when I say that your writing style really is changing, and I loved your last paragraph. You infused a lot of humor.
It would be a shame to waste all of Mom's hard work!!
The people next door just got a puppy, it looks like a pug/retriever mix. It is very cute and Emily loves it--even though she hates cats. She's gotten close to it a couple times, and isn't scared at all by it.
ReplyDeleteSo, at first I thought you had stopped a real thief! I couldn't wait for you to say you were a hero and that you were saving your neighborhood one house and one thief at a time! And I am glad you are not wasting your momma's hard work! even in the name of compassion! And to answer your question about my baking, it was more for Emma's sake that I did it! I thought it would be easier for her to dump stuff in the mixer that way. And it worked, she dumped them all! And yes, I love that picture of Ryn with the kids! When he saw it he said, that's a lot of babies! Sometimes we forget we have so many! Well, not really!
ReplyDeleteI think maybe I should have written you an email instead of a comment! :)