The Lucky Seven

I didn't intend to leave animal control with 7 new fosters, but on this particular day something just wouldn't let me leave them.

We stopped by to visit a dog we had seen on the website. When we got there that dog wasn't available for viewing. We decided to walk around and see who else was there. As we walked around we wrote down the pen numbers of dogs that we were interested in. We took the numbers back to the animal control officer to get more details.

Normally when we do this we find that some of them have applications, some have rescues coming to get them and others have a little bit more time. On this day every single dog we asked about was scheduled to be killed in the morning. It was 30 minutes till closing time. These dogs were going to die.

I'm sure you know that tons of dogs get killed at animal control every year. What you might not know is that sweet, loving, cute, adorable, submissive, "highly adoptable" dogs being killed all the time. Every dog we asked about we knew would make great pets. They didn't have behavior problems. They didn't have medical issues. They didn't have emotional baggage that would make a transition into a new family lots of work.

Three stubby legged, scruffy terrier brothers played in their pen together as if nothing was wrong. They wrestled and wrestled and was actually a bit reluctant to come out of their pen to me. They didn't know they should want to come to me. How would they? We named these boys Skully, Rugby and Xander.

Another was a young blond small girl dog. She looked like a puppy but she was actually full grown. She looked at us and give the most heart wrenching howl. It wasn't loud or obnoxious, or was like a plea for help. Then we find out the reason for her howl. She had come in with a puppy. They were immediately separated. The puppy had been adopted and the mom was left to die. When we got her out to meet her she was the calmest sweetest little dog ever. She was very scared and just wanted us to love her. She would have crawled right into our pockets if she could have. We named her Piper.

A miniature Labrador? One puppy looked just like an adult lab but only in miniature. She was so tiny. She wasn't much of a puppy. Since she is already about 9-10 months old she doesn't have much growing to do. She gave us a submissive wiggle through the glass window. When I went in to get her she too was scared to leave. That breaks your heart. I wish they could understand English as I tell them it's their lucky day. This one we named Jade.

Through one window was a little border collie mix puppy. People always are looking for dogs like her to adopt. Not this time I guess. She was curious and happy when we brought her out. She's a sweet little thing that we now call Paisley.

Last was an owner surrender. They owned her for 3 months before turning into animal control. She was there 5 days passed her kill date. She looked just like a doberman/whippet mix, too adorable. Looked like a little skeleton. She was bouncy and bongy. She's an athletic little girl. We named her Jazzi.

Why are dogs like these being killed? It just isn't fair. I know I can't change everything but I was determined to save the lives of the 7 dogs on our list that day.