Sam and Me

[Robin Fiennes]

There are so many needy animals up for adoption that it is really hard
to believe that so many people patronize the pet shops. We humans as a
race have done a rotten job caring for the animals that we claim to
love. We let so many unwanted ones be born, and then simply have them
put to sleep when they become inconvenient or dump them on the side of
the road.
If you are thinking of getting a new animal companion, I must suggest
as strongly as possible that you think of getting one of the animals
for adoption to care for. After all, you will still have all the
benefits of caring for a pet, and in addition will be making an
important difference in the life of an animal.
There are many more animals for adoption then there are animals for
sale. Fortunately, if those animals are small, furry, and cute, there
is a much greater chance that someone will take them home.
The situation is much different for adult animals, or critters who
have had a hard go of it. Even traditional pets, such as cats and
dogs, become much less popular once they grow up. Here is one of my
adopted animal stories.
I live on 28 acres and have a small herd of mini goats. On one trip
into Knoxville, taking a kid into the Large Animal Vet school at UT, I
stopped at Sam's Club to wander around while the vets were neutering
the kid. This is in a very busy part of town, with lots of traffic.
And as soon as I pulled into the parking lot, a dog, who was obviously
in really bad shape, came up to the door as if looking for help.
Now the last thing I needed was another dog. I already had two at
home, one of which absolutely hated any other animal that came into
his domain, even though he was a stray at one time who adopted us. So
I went into the store and bought dog cookies. When I came out, the dog
was gone.
I hate to admit this, but I was relieved. That was, until I looked
over into the adjacent mall parking lot and there he was, this time
following an older couple, that was walking laps around the lot.
I drove over to the other lot, all the while having mixed feelings
about becoming involved in this poor dog's life. When I got out of the
Explorer, he immediately came right over, and so did the man and
woman. We talked about him for a bit, while I was feeding him dog
cookies.
They were debating on whether or not to take him home and I was
encouraging them to do just that. But in the end, they decided not to
and walked on.
Now what? I couldn't just drive off at this point, I had already
looked into his eyes. With a little help, he got into the back of the
Explorer and having every intention to take him to the animal shelter,
we drove over to UT to pick up the goat on the way.
The girls there, the resident and students, took one look and decided
to take care of his wounds, which were many. Here he was, surrounded
by strangers, hurt and starving, never offering to snarl or snap. He
laid on the gurney with his head in the crook of my arm, and closed
his eyes and went to sleep. He never moved when they gave him a shot
of Novacaine or something like it, so they could clean and stitch some
of his wounds.
He never opened his eyes until it was time to go. I got the direction
to the no-kill animal shelter and headed out. When I arrived, they
were still closed and one of the volunteers told me through the
window, that they couldn't take him anyway, because I had just picked
him up,
I needed to have had him for at least 10 days. She told me how to get
to the city shelter. So off I went again. It had just started to rain
when we arrived at the city animal shelter, I left him in the vehicle
and went inside. I talked to a very busy, overworked woman, they were
cleaning out cages at the time. I just had to ask, what were the
chances of him being adopted. The woman smiled and said, they were
good at this time, as long as he wasn't an all black dog.
I started out the door in the rain with the leash she had given me,
about the same time as the tears started to fall. As I opened the
door, I looked in at a totally black dog sleeping on the passenger
seat, not one spot of white on him, no tan, no other color, just
black. I sat there for about 15 minutes, trying to think of what I
could do next. I was envisioning the uproar when I got home with
another dog. But then, I made up my mind, jumped out the door, ran
into the building, gave her back her leash and said thanks, but I just
can't do it.
Well, that was over 5 years ago, August 2001, and Sam, I bet you can
figure out how he got his name, is sawing logs a few feet away from me
in his normal position, on his back with his feet up in the air. The
doctor at UT volunteered to neuter him for me the next week, just
because they all fell for him too, and because I had gotten him off
the street.
Yes, Wicket, named after the cute little Ewok in StarWars, what a
misnomer, still hates him for coming into his house, but we manage to
maintain some peace. After about a month or two of recuperating, I
realized I should have named him Tigger, because he just bounces all
over. If you know the Tigger song, that says "bouncy, bouncy bouncy",
that is him. And even though, the vets thought he was about 9 months
old at the time I picked him up, he took quite a growth spurt, that
took him from a starving 30 pounds to almost 80 pounds and gained
about 3 to 4 inches in height. He really is quite a dog. And he is no
longer solid black, there is a tiny thin line around his lips now, of
gray. Like a little skinny mustache.
I wish everybody had a Sam story. There would be so many fewer dogs
euthanised every year at the shelters. And most every area has a place
that will help you as far as shots and neutering goes. Adopting an
animal is truly the best way. If everybody did that, it would put the
puppymills out of business and save a lot of animals from having
totally miserable lives.

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