The Case of Tiny: An Example of the Rule

            People can be incredibly stupid.  Especially when it comes to animals.  They expect animals to be no work.  For them to just be.  And in being, be perfect.  Animals, however, like people have their faults.  They have histories.  Histories that shape their personalities and reactions to various situations.  Tiny was the case of a dog with bad reactions combined with very stupid people.

Example of an Aussie 

            Tiny was an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix.  The breed has its own set of problems, but for the most part they are kind, warm, loyal, very intelligent, and extremely high energy.  They also don’t back down.  They stand up for what they believe in.  Shyness is considered a fault in both breeds.  This can spell trouble for the unknowing or uneducated individual who really does not understand their new dog that they have just brought home from the humane society who looks, well, cool.  Aussies are known for their fantastic and wide array of colors.  They come in blue and red merles, swirled together with black, browns, and different shades of white.  They also come with stunning eyes.  Having either marbled or completely different colored eyes, Native Americans actually called them ghost dogs.  This beauty attracts all kinds of people.  Stupid ones.  Who don’t understand that this breed needs to run, play, direction and most importantly, needs to figure out puzzles.

            Tiny’s people were a special kind of stupid.  Ignorant.  I first meet them when they came back to the shelter to return a dog they had adopted the previous week.  Things, according to them, weren’t going well.  The dog just didn’t fit their lifestyle.  There is something to be said for this.  A dog, if it wants to stay with its people, must fit their way of life.  Which is almost certainly why people have breed over 150 various kinds of dogs.  Beauty, the dog these people had adopted previously, was not the right kind of breed.  They said she had just too much energy.  She kept door dashing, running for miles before they could catch her.  She was just too fast for them (granted the mother in the group looked like she had eaten at the Country Buffet for every meal of her life) but Beauty just had too much of a get up and go spirit.  So they returned her.

            While this always makes us sad, we expect it, and give a voucher for a new animal.  We never give people a refund, but know that people can show very bad judgment when it comes to picking their own happiness. 

            After issuing them their voucher, these people proceeded to look through all our available dogs as if they were shoes on the rack.  They found a few dogs they wanted to visit with and I had the misfortune of doing the introductions.  As I told them about each dog, their personality, their traits and behaviors, it became apparent that these people had no idea what they wanted.  They had a boxer mix at home that hated anything bigger than her.  But they wanted a guard dog for the 16 year old for when he went running (somehow a boxer mix doesn’t fit this description).  I told them about various breeds, but they kept finding problems with them.  After an exhausting hour, they finally left and said they would come back the following week.

            And back they came.  I didn’t deal with them much the second time around, except to process the actual adoption papers.  When I saw that they were adopting Tiny I was astonished and shocked.  I hated every minute of it.  But as an open admissions shelter, we are also open adoptions.  Wrong?  Yes.  But only being a front desk clerk I felt my hands were bound.  I tried to explain.  I tried to tell them about his personality.  I tried to convince them to do a dog-to-dog in which both dogs could meet one another.  But no.  They wanted Tiny and no reason would suffice.  Illogical?  The entire thing.  And so out they went with a wonderful dog that had no luck and not a chance. 

            For animals it’s all about luck.  That is what draws me to help them.  For people, at least most, they have some say in their destiny.  They can and have many choices to make each day.  This shapes their future.  Will I do my homework assessment?  Will I help out with the chores?  Will I run away?  Will I marry this man?  Of course there are many who are forced into their futures, but for all animals there is little to no choice.  They don’t have a say in where or whom they go home with.  It doesn’t matter where they are born or what animal they are, they are subjects to our will.  Even if we are kind, they cannot tell us what they want.  This means they are subject to our every whim and desire we possess.  We cast their die.  Their odds are with us.  For many, this is a terrifying and overwhelming truth.  It can end well.  Or it can end in disaster.  But when you’re a dog or a cat sitting in an open admissions shelter, and you look up at the people coming to see you, I am sure all you can think is, “What will you be like?  Will you be kind? Will you destroy me?”  So many people and you’re just hedging your bets on if you are cute enough, if you are sweet enough, and the most imperative of all, are you lucky enough.   

            Tiny was not lucky.  A week after his adoption he came back through our doors.  The kid’s arm was in a cast.  They justified it by saying that Tiny had attacked the other dog.  When the kid tried to break it up (which is the stupidest thing a person can do) Tiny latched on and dug in.  The second time it occurred was that evening.  Supposedly, the other dog was lying on the couch with the boy’s arm wrapped around him.  Tiny lunged for the dog and instead grabbed the teenager’s arm tearing it to shreds.

            No hope was left for Tiny after that.  They took the kid to the emergency room, had his arm bandaged, and the next morning brought Tiny back to us giving their version of what happened.  They knew.  They knew their dog would attack Tiny because Tiny was bigger than their other dog.  Instead of attempting their mistake they stood there and lied telling us their dog would never attack another dog.  When just the previous week, they had told me different.  Enraged I could do nothing.  I couldn’t say anything to their disgusting faces.  I told my coworkers.  I told my manager.  But Tiny didn’t have any hope left.  After the surrender, Tiny was lead back by a catchpole, never to be touched by a human again.  This is necessary.  Once an animal has bitten, they are quarantined off.  No one is allowed to handle them.  It is needed and keeps people safe from rabies.  Still, it can be cruel when applied perhaps unjustly to guilty yet as equally innocent animals.  Tiny spent his last night in a familiar kennel that he dreaded.  A scary place with lots of other dogs howling trying to escape some future they do not know and cannot control.  In the morning, they came for him.  Thus was his end. 

            They knew.  Those stupid people knew that their dog did not like dogs bigger than her.  But they didn’t care.  To them, Tiny was disposable.  They shrugged him off like you would of an old sweater that doesn’t fit anymore.  After we led Tiny back, they went into our adoption room and proceeded to pick out another dog.  Gloria, a Chihuahua was selected.  This time we required a dog-to-dog with their boxer mix.  The meeting went okay.   Still, as they adopted out Gloria (of which I refused to have anything to do with) and walked out, I couldn’t help but mutter, “Dead dog walking.”