Dusty
wasn't our dog. We didn't own her, but we fed her, housed her
and loved her. She belonged to a couple who live in our
neighborhood. Dusty was always the "neighborhood dog".
From the time she was not much more than a pup, she wandered the
neighborhood. Her owners left her outdoors in all kinds of
weather, hot Summer sun, pouring rain and sub-zero Winter cold. It was
hard to believe that the woman who owned her actually worked for a
veterinarian, where she certainly saw what happens to dogs left to
roam unprotected from nature and man. How often must she have
seen dogs suffering from frostbite, or covered with porcupine quills?
She certainly saw dogs who had been
poisoned, shot, and hit by cars, yet her own dog wandered loose in all
kinds of weather, day and night.
Dusty often
begged to come in at a particular neighbor's house and was let in to
stretch out by their wood stove, on cold days. In October
'96 we rented that house, Dusty was here to great us when we
moved in. She would come to the front porch window and beg to
come in out of the Autumn cold and rain. We didn't have a
wood stove, but the kerosene heater in our back room seemed to make
her happy. She'd walk in and head straight for the heater.
She must have been around eight years old and while she was still
strong and healthy she obviously could no longer stand being out in
the cold.
She was a big
yellow lab, as gentle as a kitten and definitely a family dog. Her
big, brown, trusting eyes could melt your heart. She would join
us and our dog, Duke, in the living room when we watched TV and seemed
thrilled to share our popcorn and the family environment. When I
came home from work at lunchtime each day, she would greet me at my
car and follow me onto the porch. Then she would actually
chatter her teeth as if she were freezing and look at me expectantly,
hoping to be let in. How could any one resist her big, mournful
eyes? Once she was in she would go straight for the heater.
In December
(1997) my mother had a stroke and we brought her two dogs, Lady Ericka
and Snuggles, both boxers, to live with us. Snuggles was
actually my dog, that I had to leave with my mother a few years ago
when I lived in an apartment where pets were not allowed.
Lady and
Snuggles accepted that this was Duke's house but they did not accept
Dusty being in it. In past years, Dusty had often begged dog
biscuits from my mother and the boxers "loudly" objected to
having her around "their" house. They now didn't want
her here. We had to let Dusty in through the back door so she
could go to the heater without causing total mayhem. Little by
little the boxers got used to her being in the house but they would
only put up with her as long as she stayed in the backroom.
We would put
Dusty out each night to go home and she would go, only to later wake
us up during the middle of the night with her pleading barks, begging
to come in out of the cold. Jim would get up anytime from
midnight to 4 in the morning and let Dusty in to lay by the heater.
She was never
any bother. She was well behaved and easy to have around. By the
time Spring came around Dusty had decided she was a member of this
family. She had slowly made her way from the back room into the
kitchen and finally into the living room where she would stretch out
in front of the couch. The heater wasn't needed now, so she
worked her way, a half room at a time into house. It was only my
boxer, Snuggles who had any real problem with her, and as long as
Dusty didn't come too near me she put up with her.
Little by little
Dusty worked her way into the house, into our family and into our
hearts. She rarely went to her old home anymore. Sometimes
Jim would see her wander over towards her old house but her owners
would chase her off so she finally stopped going home at all.
Dusty was
always here waiting in the yard or on the porch when we got home from
anywhere and she'd always meet me at lunchtime and after work.
Her owner came
over to see if she was here only once, although they drove by everyday
and could see her out on the porch or in the yard. One Winter
day the woman stopped and asked if she was there because she had an
appointment for her Rabies shot. I told her she was always
here, that when she cried at our door every night to come in to get
warm, we could hardly ignore her. I thought after that she might
keep
her in at night but Dusty was back that night and every night after
that.
Dusty finally
worked her way from in front of the couch, to upstairs at night, and
while the other three dogs slept in our room, she would sleep in the
hall outside our bedroom door. One night she went into the
bedroom before bedtime and picked a dog pillow and got settled in
ahead of the other dogs. Then there were four dogs sleeping in
the bedroom!
She was a big
dog and we affectionately called her the "Moose". She
enjoyed even the slightest bit of affection. While we keep our other
three dogs in a fenced in yard, Dusty was used to roaming so we would
have to let her out the front door each morning so she could go roll
around out in the front yard. She would take her morning stroll
and then comeback for her breakfast. Even Lady Ericka finally
got to where she would look out the dinning room window and watch for
Dusty to come back for breakfast.
We often
commented that we just could not understand how her owners could just
ignore her when she was such an especially nice animal. We could
not believe that they came to get her only the one time.
One July
morning she asked to go out early like she usually did. Jim let
her out and because I had the day off, I went back to sleep.
When I got up Dusty had not come back for breakfast. She had never
missed breakfast and we were worried about her, but we thought maybe
she had gone home and her owners had actually let her in. Jim
drove around the our neighborhood checking to see where she was.
He didn't see her anywhere, so again we thought her owners must have
let her in. She didn't come back all day or that night. We were
then very worried because if she had been let out she would have come
right over. The next day Jim went to the neighbor's to make sure
she was all right.
The woman said
they had taken her and had her "Put Down".
When Jim asked "Why?" Her answer was, "Dusty hasn't
been home in three months." Then she added that she was
afraid of law suits if Dusty should hurt any of the children in the
neighborhood. (That made no sense since Dusty was such a big,
gentle baby of a dog and was now indoors more than she had ever been.)
Then she claimed she had to be put down because she had "hot
spots" on her where she had lost some hair. (We had been
treating the two small spots and they we healing!)
Why had they
killed a beautiful, friendly dog? We will never know or
understand. Why didn't they just offer the dog to us?
We don't know that either and never will.
Lady spent days
looking out the window, waiting for Dusty, like she always did each
morning before breakfast. We still have a big empty place in our
hearts . . . and it was never the same when I came home anymore.
Up until the time we moved in October '97, I still
looked to see if Dusty was waiting for me. I kept hoping she'll
be there, even though I knew she never would. . . and I still
wonder how and why people can be so cruel to a loving animal who never
harmed anyone. She just wanted a warm place to sleep and a
family who loved her.
She had those
things for a time . . now she lives forever in our hearts!
~laf '97~
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