HELP – Lost Pet

Lost 14 yr old calico pet (Miss Callie) from Ohio…lost at Walmart
Parking lot in Mt Airy on 8/5…reward. Alice alicn1derld13@att.net or call (304) 657-6378.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a race track. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn’t help because I fall faster than you can run.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years –canine or feline attendance is not required.

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:

1. They live here. You don’t.
2. If you don’t want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That’s why they call it “fur”niture.
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, they are animals. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn’t speak clearly.

I was homeless when they found me. I remember a wire going around my neck and being put in a cold cage in the back of a truck. The ride to wherever we were going seemed bumpy and long. Other dogs and cats were with me and we were all scared. We thought we might be going to our forever home. We were…. ….but not in the way we thought. We were taken to a shelter. Our shelter wasn’t bad. We all were given cards taped to our cages. The cards must have said what kind of dog or cat we were.. We were given a date on the card. We knew it wasn’t our birthday so it had to have a meaning. The date was the day we entered the shelter. That told the people who worked at the shelter how long we might stay. I could hear people saying that some of us looked like we might be adoptable and others of us weren’t very pretty, especially us black dogs. I heard them say that mostly black dogs were put down before others. I didn’t know what putdown meant.

The people at the shelter fed us & sometimes we had vet care, sometimes not. That was the sad part. Some of my friends had wounds from fights or suffered from arthritis from being out in the cold. We really wanted to see a pet doctor. We didn’t complain as long as they brought us food and water. Lots of tails wagging. The cats were in another room. Cats aren’t so bad after all now that I have learned to live in a home for all of God’s creatures.

Morning came, then evening, then night time. Many times the sun rose and set and we didn’t see anyone except the caretaker or we met a new friend but sometimes we would see one of our friends being taken away: sometimes more than one at a time. We could hear noises, lots of barking and howling and meowing. We heard a door close, then a guy with a big flat cart with wheels went past us and we could hear something like a door closing, and everybody would go their own way for awhile, then they would go back to the room where the big door was and we could hear thumps, like something was being thrown on the ground. We could hear plastic rattling. This happened when there wasn’t enough room in the shelter building for my friends . After each time the big door clanged and the sounds of the thumping and rattling, a big truck came and then there was silence.

We were all waiting on someone to come take us home. Once a week or maybe twice the doors opened up and people came by and looked at us. We were so happy. Some of us jumped on our cages but some of my friends were so scared they huddled in the corner. That is when I would hear someone say that ….”That dog just isn’t adoptable”. I couldn’t figure out why they would say that because my friend was just scared.

Time passed and I was one of the black ones and I can only tell you so much for the pain of it all is much more than I want to remember. It was the day God took me to Heaven.

I WAS GASSED IN A DOG POUND IN NORTH CAROLINA. I was put in an old box with some of my friends, cats to and we were all fighting for our breath. Some of my friends died before me, not sure what happened to the puppies before I drew my last breath, but after it was all over I heard beautiful sounds of happy animals and voices of Angels singing, and God said “Welcome Home”. I had finally reached my forever home.

- Anonymous

Once I was a lonely dog,
Just looking for a home.
I had no place to go,
No one to call my own.
I wandered up and down the streets,
In rain, in heat and snow.
I ate whatever I could find,
I was always on the go.
My skin would itch, my feet were sore,
My body ached with pain.
And no one stopped to give a pat
Or to gently say my name.
I never saw a loving glance,
I was always on the run.
For people thought that hurting me
Was really lots of fun.
And then one day I heard a voice
So gentle, kind and sweet.
And arms so soft reached down to me
And took me off my feet.
“No one again will hurt you.”,
Was whispered in my ear.
“You’ll have a home to call your own
Where you will know no fear.”
“You will be dry, you will be warm,
You’ll have enough to eat,
And rest assured that when you sleep,
Your dreams will all be sweet.”
I was afraid I must admit,
I’ve lived so long in fear.
I can’t remember when I let
A human come so near.
And as she tended to my wounds
And bathed and brushed my fur
She told me about the rescue group
And what it meant to her.
She said, “We are a circle,
A line that never ends.
And in the center there is you,
Protected by new friends.”
“And all around you are
The ones that check the pounds,
And those that share their home
After you’ve been found.
“And all the other folk
Are searching near and far,
To find the perfect home for you,
Where you can be a star.”
She said, “There is a family,
That’s waiting patiently,
And pretty soon we’ll find them,
Just you wait and see.”
“And then they’ll join our circle,
They’ll help to make it grow,
So there’ll be more room for more like you,
Who have no place to go.”
I waited very patiently,
The days they came and went.
Today’s the day I thought,
My family will be sent.
Then just when I began to think
It wasn’t meant to be,
There were people standing there
Just gazing down at me.
I knew them in a heart beat,
I could tell they felt it too.
They said, “We have been waiting
For a special dog like you.”
Now every night I say a prayer
To all the gods that be.
“Thank you for the life I live
and all you’ve given me.”
“But most of all protect the dogs
In the pound and on the street.
And send a special person
to lift them off their feet.”
Author: Arlene Pace

“Treat me kindly, my beloved friend,

For no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick your hand between blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me learn.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the worlds sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footsteps fall upon my ears.

Please take me inside when it is cold and wet, for I am a domesticated animal, no longer accustomed to the bitter elements. I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth.

Keep my bowel filled with water, for I cannot tell you when I suffer from thirst.
Feed me clean food that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding , to walk by your side, and stand ready , willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger

And my friend, when I am very old, and I no longer enjoy good health, hearing and good sight, do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having fun. Please see that my trusting life is taken gently. I shall leave this earth knowing with the last breath I draw, that my fate was always safest in your hand.”

Author: Beth Norman Harris

“I wish someone would tell me What it is that I’ve done wrong, Why I have to stay chained up And left alone so long.
They seemed so glad to have me When I came here as a pup. There were so many things we’d do While I was growing up.
They couldn’t wait to train me As companion and as friend. They told me they would never fear Being left alone again.
The children said they’d feed me, Said they’d brush me every day, They’d play with me and walk me, If only I could stay.
But now the family hasn’t time. They often say I shed. They won’t allow me in the house, Not even to be fed.
The children never walk me. They always say, “Not now!” I wish that I could please them. Won’t someone tell me how?
All I have is love, you see, I wish they would explain, Why they said they wanted me than left me on a chain.”
- Edith Lassen Johnson

“There is inside every person a call to be free.
There is inside every creature a plea to be free.
Don’t chain me up and leave me alone
And go inside to your warm home.
Please don’t feed me on the cold ground when
I can’t reach because I am bound.
Please give me hope where none is to be found.
Please don’t walk away without stopping to see
That I need you to care, to really look at me.
Please say a prayer and wait awhile
Until God hears and answers you.
Please don’t walk away and leave me here
Wondering why that you can’t see
that I have a fear
you might not come back to me,
then how will you know
If my chain is too heavy
If my shelter is too cold
If my food and water is void
Of what I need to survive.
But what I need most for you to see is
That you need to come back
And rescue me.”

Shepherds of Surry

Shepherds of Surry (S.O.S) is a group of citizens concerned about the cruel neglect of dogs left tied or chained outdoors without relief.

It is their mission to promote laws to protect dogs from continuous outdoor confinement on a tether, rope, cable or chain.

Membership is open to the public. Members intend to meet at least once a month to discuss ways to bring about legal protections for neglected dogs in Surry County.

Anyone interested in attending a meeting may contact Kathleen Edwards at (336)351-4850 or email to tullophile@yahoo.com

Anyone having information regarding an animal who is neglected, abused or mistreated should immediately contact Surry County Animal Control at (336) 401-8481.

Current county ordinance requires that any chain, rope, cable or tether used to confine a dog must be at least 15 feet in length with swivels on both ends, attached to the dog by a properly fitting harness or buckle-type collar of nylon or leather measuring not less than one inch in width. Any dog thus confined must be provided with adequate food daily and have continuous access to clean, unfrozen water and a non-metal shelter consisting of three sides and a roof which is structurally sound and maintained in good repair.

Dogs Deserve Better

Dogs Deserve Better is a non-profit organization dedicated to freeing the chained dog, and bringing ‘our ‘best friend’ into the home and family. DDB helps with fencing your yard and keeping your dog off the chain(if resources are available). Area Reps can help with in-home assistance to house train him/her and provide walks for your dog.

Read more about Dogs Deserve Better – dogsdeservebetter.com

Fencing Assistance through Dogs Deserve Better
Application – dogsdeservebetter.com/action%20form.pdf

If you would like to learn more about Dogs Deserve Better please call 1-877-636-1408.

If you would like to Sponsor a fence for a Surry Dog, volunteer fence building, donate Fencing Supplies please contact Kathleen at (336)351-4850 or tullophile@yahoo.com

“The dog next door is a most horrid sight
With filthy fur and eyes that portray death
He looks unto the stars and howls at night
He hopes the heavens will soon steal his breath

The chain that holds him captive to this life
Has been the only greeting each morning
Another lonely day comes with no light
Will someone hear his plead for adorning?

He asks for the privilege of life unchained
To sleep in a bed and to eat each day
When will they learn his life is not a game?
He doesn’t wish to live his life this way

Another frost chills his water bowl
The winter also freezes his poor soul”
—Katie Horan

I only wonder why and how can people turn their heads and say it’s only an animal…