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Every Pet Rescuer Has At Least One Street Orphan
That Breaks Their Hearts When They First See Them;
I Have Had Several, Including This Homeless Waif,
An Emaciated Dog In An Alley, Very Near His End.

He had Given Up, In the Stifling Summer Heat,
Now Suffering from Starvation and De-Hydration;
Now Being Eaten Alive by Hundreds of Fleas and Ticks,
Yet One More Abandoned and Abused Dog In Our Nation.

I Went To Visit Him Yesterday To Say Good-bye and Bon Voyage,
Since He and His Adoptive ‘Mother’ Are Now Moving Far Away;
Every Time This Dog Spots Me, He Still Showers Me With Kisses,
For Saving His Life In That Filthy Alley, That Stifling Summer’s Day.

I Wrote The Story Below Back in 2010 - From A Canine’s Point of View -
Before This Dog Was Finally Adopted, and Finally Given A Loving New Home;
A Home That He and Every Other Abandoned Pet in America Today, Deserves,
There Are Far Too Many Just Like Him Out There Right Now, This I Sadly Know.


A Homeless Dog’s Tale


“Compassion is the capacity
For feeling what it’s like,
To live inside somebody else’s skin.”

Frederick Buechner


I remember having a home once when I was younger, but it’s only a very vague memory today. Most of my recent memories have become agonizing nightmares for me. You see, I am one of the now countless throw-away pets these extremely sad days, pets who now very routinely get tossed out of our homes, just like the garbage does.

And, there seems to be more and more of us each and every day now, aimlessly wandering the mean city streets and rural areas of America, desperately searching for scraps of food and sips of fresh water, attempting to survive just one more day, and wondering what we did so terribly wrong to deserve this kind of life, and this kind of abysmal treatment from you human beings.

There used to be a time when I would walk up to people on the street, very hopeful that they would be compassionate, and perhaps offer me something to eat, or a safe place to sleep for the night, or at least a kind word or two. But no one ever did any of those things for me.

Most of the people I approached on the street acted as if I were invisible, and they rushed right past me, without even a single thought to my plight. And unbelievably, many of these same people were out walking dogs of their own, but even they didn’t seem to notice me standing right there in front of them.

Other people were much worse – they cursed at me, they chased me away, and they even threw rocks at me. I just couldn’t figure out what I had done so wrong to deserve all of this hatred and contempt.

I eventually began hiding during the daylight hours, only venturing out at night to search for food and water when there were far less hateful people around. That’s when I sadly realized that there were so many of my kind out here now – all of us hungry, all of us thirsty, all of us homeless, and all of us without any love of any kind.

This past summer, while out scavenging one night, I sadly came upon many other homeless, starving, throw-away dogs and cats who had eventually just given up. What good was a life without food, without shelter, and without any love?

A few months ago, I found myself giving up, too. It was just too damned hot in that alley; I was just too damned hungry and thirsty to dig through the garbage anymore; the bugs were eating me alive; and I had finally decided that life without a home or companionship or love was just not worth living anymore.

I eventually found myself in a deep dark stairwell in a dirty alley where I collapsed and I closed my eyes for the very last time - too weak and too sick to go on anymore, and still sadly wondering what I had done so terribly wrong.

But unbelievably, several hours later I heard a human voice talking to me. This voice was getting closer and closer, and louder and louder, and soon, this human being was actually sitting right there in that deep dark dirty stairwell with me. Even more unbelievably, he soon began to stroke my head very softly. What a torrent of old memories that now released in my canine brain – how long had it been since I had felt a gentle touch, or even heard one kind word - from any human being?

I eventually opened my eyes and I looked into his – now realizing that he was actually there to help me, not to hurt me. I eventually let him put a leash on me, and I soon let him lead me to his car, and to help me crawl up into it. As I sprawled out in the back seat of this vehicle with this kind human being, I began wondering where fate was taking me now.

Soon, we arrived at a place called an animal hospital, and I again let this human being lead me inside it. We were greeted there by a very nice young lady who said, “What should we call this poor guy?” The human who had brought me here very sadly replied, “Lonely,” but the girl said: “No, let’s call him ‘Lucky,’ since he is very lucky that you found him today.”

And soon, I was being helped by many kind people at this animal hospital – people who fed me, who treated me for my parasites and my wretched skin condition, and, who best of all, were also now being extremely nice to me - maybe all human beings weren’t that bad, after all.

I spent the next several weeks at this animal hospital being cared for, and talked to, and pampered by these nice hospital people, and then one day I looked up, and there he was again – that same human being who had found me in that deep dark alley stairwell. My heart now raced, and my tail now wagged excitedly at his very sight.

And soon, we were once again in his car, going somewhere that I somehow knew would be OK. I soon began hoping that it would be to his house, since I already knew that he would take good care of me. But I wasn’t that lucky. I soon sadly heard him telling me that his home was already filled with many others just like me that he and his wife had taken in from the mean city streets. I now began wondering just how many like me he already had.

After what seemed like an extremely long ride in his car, we now arrived at a strange new place out in the country where another kind and gentle human being now welcomed me. It seems the place he has brought me to now is called a ‘Foster Home for Abandoned Dogs,’ a place where other compassionate human beings care for my kind, until we can find a permanent home of our own.

But I’ve also now heard these human beings saying that there are far too many of my kind right now, and that there are far too few people now willing to adopt us, or even to provide any temporary foster care for us, until we can find a permanent new home of our own.

I whined and I cried when the human who found me lying in that alley eventually drove off and left me here, and I think he cried a little too, knowing in his heart and soul that he just didn’t have enough room for me in his own home right now because of all the other homeless dogs and cats that he had already taken in.

Unless you human beings start spaying and neutering your own pets, and stop purchasing expensive puppies and kittens from abysmal puppy mills, pet stores, and breeders, many more homeless, unwanted animals like me will soon be born. And, unless many more compassionate people soon step forward to foster, and to adopt, and to assist homeless animals like myself, there will very sadly never be an end to my kind.

And now, here I sit at this foster home out in the country, in an outdoor kennel, next to several other homeless street orphans just like me – now waiting, now wondering, and now hoping, with all of my canine heart and soul, that I really will be ‘Lucky.’


Post Script: Lucky eventually did get extremely lucky; he was eventually adopted by a very compassionate woman who adores him today. And whenever I see him these days, I can hardly believe that this is the same dog that I found near death in that filthy alley stairwell that extremely hot summer’s day.

Lucky has filled out quite nicely; his wretched skin condition is gone: he is extremely happy and playful now; and he has never forgotten me. Whenever he sees me even after all of this time, he still excitedly pounces on my chest, knocks me down, and joyously attempts to kiss me to death.

And yesterday, I got to visit Mr. Lucky one last time before he headed off to his new home in Florida with his compassionate adopter and two feline friends that he now shares her love with.

Bon Voyage, My Old Friend – I Will Remember You Always