I have an awesome, happy, sparkle, wish, lucky, story tonight. I didnt' see the ususal "Have a Happy Story"? Fri night get together, though. Maybe I missed it, but I don't care, I have a happy, "doooobey, doooobey, doo, scat daddy story to tell". So if you're interested in political substance tonight, don't stop here. There will be none of that. Just a true happy fairy tale.
Follow me beyond the jump...........
Once upon a time...last week to be exact...a friendly citizen found a dog. This dog was sweet and well behaved. This dog obviously had a family. Unfortunately, this dog was a Pit bull Terrier. Like many species before her, she was a victim of others prejudices and preconceptions. She was sweet, kind, and obedient. But due to her breed (not to mention the previous media hysteria of her "type", silly generalizations, and mis-informed stereotypes, etc... about her "kind", her "breed") she was an outcast. She roamed for weeks.
Until one day a couple saw her. They knew her breed, the Pit bull terrier, was the victim of irrational stereotypes. They knew that although others saw her as a killing machine--a jaw on paws--others knew the truth...she could be a loving family friend and a loyal protector. The couple wasn't oblivious to the world, they knew others exploited her aggressive, protective nature and turned her brothers and sisters into bitter, vicious, non-feeling attack machines. She knew that image was, 9 times out of 10, a BS brainwash job performed by a few weaker, or perhaps disturbed, or maybe just misinformed souls of the humans that she bonds with so well. Somehow she knew her kind (domesticated dogs, not just her breed, Pit bull) had a less than 30% survival rate on their own, but an over 90% survival rate with those mysterious creatures, humans. The unpredictable species that it seems half would kill her and half would protect her. Who were those that preyed on her kind? Who were the ones that reveled in betraying the relationship of human and dog, built over centuries? Who would defile that bond and surprise her with a noose, or gun, or tire, or lethal injection? How could she distinguish them from the ones that would do her no harm? How could she gain the trust of human kind, a species she needed so much, despite the false hysteria of her breed. She's a pit bull on the loose. "Call the pound" they'd say. "She'll turn on you", they warn...while she is licking your face lovingly. She hoped others knew her kind--sweet, loving, obedient, and loyal to the death. Not the "to the death" loyalty some would demand of her in inappropriate situations. She is the one that will protect your spouse and children above her own safety. A perfect "home security system". But she is also like any useful commodity--she performs a service and she can be exploited. So some bad people took some of her kind and turned them very, very, bad. As a consequence, she must pay.
Almost everyone who sees her is afraid. The may not say it, but they think it "Oh, my freaking, GOD! That is a pit bull and I'm going to get torn up..." They back away. Fortunately, there are a few humans who know the "news" stories of attacks of her kind are really ratings grabbers.
Sure, there are a few A-hole Pit bulls out there (especially non-nutured males), but she, and others should, know those dogs they hear about on T.V. are victims of irresponsible owners. This is not to say that all of her kind should be family pets watching over young children; we are just letting the world know that a pit-bull terrier, with the right owner, could be an integral family member. Better than a gun, or alarm, I would argue.
Anyway, this little pitt is roaming a neighborhood lost. A couple finds her, takes her home, but she doesn't like their dogs. (Don't know why, didn't question it at the time. The dogs just don't get along). So they keep her tied up at one of the couple's place of work. They travel the neighborhood a few days. Wherein, one day, they knock on a door. A lady, let's call her TexH, answers. The couple says the dog is nice, but their dogs do not like her. She runs to TexH's next door neighbor’s house, so the couple hoped she belonged there. "No", TexH replies, "she doesn't belong there." In fact, TexH knows all the neighbors and she is a stranger dog. TexH has a big heart, but also has vacation plans the next week so she can't help other than offering assistance on future door knocks.
A few days pass. It is Friday night. TexH and MrTex take it easy that night. They are ready for bed about 10:30 p.m. But, they hear a big CRASH outside. "What the hell was that?" asks Mr. TexH. A drunk driver is the answer. Bedtime is delayed for Mr. and Mrs. TexH. The neighbor’s cars (ssssss yes, plural) are SMASHED by a drunk driver. Mrs. TexH takes pictures for the neighbor who is too shaken up to even talk, much less click. It is bad. No one is hurt, but the neighbor’s cars are rammed and moved back at least 6 feet by the drunken old man:
It's hard to tell from the photos, but the brown pickup in the middle is a 1980 and a recently restored classic. The white one was bought by the neighbors less than 2 months ago! Bummer! Anyway, TexH takes pics for the neighbors since they are in a bit of shock (understandable).
When the Mrs. Tex goes inside to check on the pics, the door opens.
It's Mr. TexH. He remembers the missus telling him of a sweet dog someone found last week. While he was talking to all the neighbors about the wreck and happenings outside, a little dog runs right up to him, as if she knows him. She is obviously people-friendly and butts right in to his conversation.
Look at that face. Could you resist? I couldn't. We put her in the back yard. We were afraid the pound would pick her up. No collar, no tags, no owner = death in 48 hours at the pound. On Sunday we went up and down the main streets to the neighborhood and put up "FOUND" signs. We didn’t' give too many details. We were afraid of the stigma attached to her breed. We were afraid someone would try to claim her and make her fight; we were afraid of irresponsible people who turn pitt bulls mean.
So she stayed with us. Friday night. Saturday. Sunday. Oh dear, Mr. TexH is losing his pre-conceived notions of Pitt Bulls and is falling in love with this sweetie. She knows "come here", "stay", and "no". She is obviously trained. We register her online on every pet site we find. We make signs -- 20 of them -- and put them up on the main streets of the neighborhood. But we are not hopeful. Will we get stuck with this Pit Bull? Who will adopt a young dog with the "Pit Bull" reputation, no matter how much we tell them how sweet and trained she is? Who does she belong to? She is obviously someone’s pet, she is so trained and calm, and people friendly. Are we doing the right thing keeping her? We put up signs; we registered online with all the services. Are we right for hoping to find her family, yet willing to take the sweetheart if they don't show up? Are we right buying her a bone on Monday? She likes our other dogs and our cat, but she wants to eat our pet bunny. Can we train her to like the bunny?
I admit, I was falling for her and the Mr. was in love by Monday morning. But she obviously had a family! She was trained and knew commands. So we put up the signs on Sunday, registered her as "found" on a few websites and waited.
Tuesday my cell phone rang. I was at work and didn't answer. It rang again in less than 2 minutes. A message this time. Surely not important enough to interrupt my meeting. But then another ring in less than 2 minutes. I answered. It was a young voice. "I'm calling about Domino". I didn't want just anyone calling to pick up a free pitt, so I asked her to describe her. The caller could to the last detail.
What make this story so sweet is that the caller was maybe 16-17 years old. We met up that evening. They lived no more than 5 blocks away, but never saw little Domino. They were just kids. I told them I'd be home around 5pm, but they asked me to wait until they could get a ride from the parents. I discovered that Domino had been missing for OVER A MONTH!!!! These kids that called were about 10, 12 and 17. The 17 year old drove over and the 10 and 12 year old ran to my front door. I let domino out, and she ran to the little ones. She jumped on their shoulders, licked their faces, then rolled over and showed her belly.
She was home. I fell for the little pup, but she had a family. Kids. She is where she belongs. But I still miss her a bit.
Night, Night, Domino