A PLACE CALLED HOME
By
Barbara J. Galasso
I used to love to play with my brothers and sisters and little Joey and Susie too. Momma would teach us right from wrong as we'd follow her all over the back yard. Then me and my ten brothers and sisters would come in the house to have our dinner and lay on the nice warm rug as we fell asleep to dream our little puppy dreams.
One by one each of my brothers and sisters would leave this place we called home and be put in some stranger’s car to be driven away where I’d never see them again. Then it was just me and my one brother and sister that were left. No one came to take us for a ride in their car and bring us to their house to live. Time passed and now we were quite a bit larger and ate more and I heard the mistress of the house say to the master of the house, "We can't keep these puppies any longer. No one is buying them. They'll have to go. I can't keep taking care of them, feeding them and cleaning up after them all the time and besides they're ruining my back yard," she said.
"Gee, I thought we were having a grand old time, digging holes, chewing up the grass and pulling the daffodils out of the flower bed. Couldn't she see we were having so much fun? And anyway, our mother didn't seem to mind."
One day the mistress of the house loaded us up in the car with our mother "Bella" and we were taken for a ride. Wow, there were so many exciting things to see as we drove down each different road. I'm afraid my sister got sick and threw up on the back seat of the mistress's car and she was very angry by the time she pulled up to this strange unfamiliar building. She got out of the car and one by one brought us into the very noisy dark dwelling. I heard my mother barking as she jumped from one side of the car to the other as the Mistress took us into the building. I never did get to kiss momma good bye.
Once inside I heard many strange dogs barking and I and my siblings became frightened. My mistress signed some papers and without turning back to look at us, she walked out the door. Then two ladies picked us up and brought us into the back rooms where there was cage after cage of dogs of different sizes and colors lined up barking at us as we gingerly made our way down to the last one. The door was opened and there was already several other dogs in the over crowed run we were left in. This was to become our new place called home.
We were smaller and much younger than most of the dogs in this run. They all came to investigate and some snarled and nipped at us. We were shaking and hurdled together to try to stay safe. The floor was cold and damp and there was no nice warm rug to lie on like in the other place that we called home. The barking all around us in that big room was deafening. There was an open door that led outside to another cemented run, but we stayed back as some of the bigger dogs ran back and forth in and out of them. We were fed some dry kibble and given some water, but we barely got a chance to finish our share before another dog would clean our plate. That first night, we stayed together whimpering and crying for our mother.
The next day strange people came to visit and look at all the residents of this place we now called home. One of the older pups in our run bit my left ear and I could feel the warm trickle of blood run down my face. My brother and sister licked my face and ear as I cowered in the corner. The people came in and out all day long just staring in at us. Then later in the day some children who looked like Joey and Susie, said, "Look momma, there’s some puppies" as they pointed to us. We eagerly ran to the gate and jumped up to greet them. But they only took my sister and brother with them to the outside of the building. They never returned as they loaded them into the back seat of their car and drove them down the road further away from me to their new place called home.
Many a day I would see a man in a white coat come in and remove some of the dogs as they struggled to get away as he took them in that side room where I never seen them come back out again. I wondered if they were going to their new homes too.
The days went by quickly and I missed my brothers and sisters so much. I thought of how momma used to lick and clean our faces and push us with her big nose as she laid and rolled on the grass as we crawled all over her. She used to share her toys with us and beg us to play chase with her.
I was awakened from my daydream as I saw the familiar black shoes slowly walk down the aisle towards my cage and as I looked up, I saw the man in the white coat standing looking in at me. He opened the gate to my run and took me out putting me on a leash. This was the first time I was taken out in the seven days that I had been here.
"Finally, I too am going to somebody's home," I gleefully thought to myself. I anxiously followed him into that side room that I saw so many other dogs go in before me. All the other dogs were barking at me as I walked passed them. "Don't worry," I wanted to tell them. "You'll get your chance too." He closed the door behind me and put me up on a cold hard table. The man in the white coat patted me on the head and said "sorry little fella," as I kissed his hand, so grateful for the attention bestowed upon me and to be away from all those other dogs. As I looked up into his face, he pulled a long shiny needle from his pocket and stuck it in my leg. I felt a piercing ache in my heart as I slipped away to a place called home.