We decided to bring a dog into our family from a shelter. My husband, John, wanted to buy a purebred dog, believing that pedigree equates to nobility, intelligence, and loyalty.
However, I persuaded him to visit a shelter with me, and he reluctantly agreed. Throughout our many years together, John had never opposed me. You might wonder why a dog, not a child? Well, we are single people and of an age. We both understand the responsibility towards any creature we take in.
Raising a child involves nurturing, educating, and more—a long-term commitment, while a dog will be with us until the end. For John and me, a pet would be like a mutual child.
At the shelter, we were greeted with a heartbreaking sight. The foul smell mixed with the incessant barking and howling that tore at our emotions. The dogs, like abandoned children, watched us with hopeful eyes, seeming to reach out to us.
Walking past the endless rows of cramped cages, hundreds of eyes followed our every move. Why do these animals suffer so? It seems if there were no neglected animals, there wouldn’t be orphaned children, and orphanages would become obsolete.
Animals, like children, require patience, love, care, and they communicate in a “foreign” language that we don’t always attempt to understand and often interpret to our advantage.
Suddenly, John stopped dead in his tracks in front of one of the cages. Inside was a dog, indifferent to the world, with a vacant stare. He hadn’t reacted to our sudden appearance as if he were deaf and blind. “Why this scruffy one? Take this one instead, after all, it’s a proper breed,” exclaimed the “museum guard” as he approached us.
“He’s been abandoned repeatedly, left behind and brought back. It’s as if he’s decided to end his pointless life by starvation,” the volunteer girl spoke with a bitter tone, recounting the sad history of this poor creature. John tried to talk to the dog, but it turned away disdainfully, having lost its trust in humans.
“You know, he’s very good, obedient, even though he’s a mongrel, he’s very loyal, unlike those ‘kings of the wild’,” hope tinged the girl’s voice as she trailed after us, catching our every gesture. I reached through the bars to stroke the dog. The dog unexpectedly turned towards me, scorching me with its gaze, and pressed its nose into my palm. The nose was slightly wet, and its warm breath tickled my skin.
I laughed. The dog sighed deeply, got up on its paws, and wagged its tail. “It’s a miracle!” exclaimed the volunteer girl, “You’re the first ones he’s responded to.” “The vet was already preparing to put him to sleep,” added the shelter manager, generally a good man, though indifferent to his job.
The girl hastened to add, “You know, the dog seems to understand everything and howls quietly at night, mourning his bitter fate, even shedding tears.” “Have you ever seen dogs cry? I have!” she suddenly exclaimed, her eyes moist with emotion.
You should have seen John at that moment. He looked so much like the beaten dog. I’ll never forget his eyes, pleading like a dog’s for mercy. And then there were the dog’s eyes. We stared into each other’s eyes for a long time. A storm of emotions raged within his soul; he hadn’t forgotten human betrayal, yet he longed for a family! Suddenly, his desire to live returned!
He howled, long and mournfully, releasing all his pain. The shelter staff rushed to our enclosure, many openly crying. John knelt before the dog, seemingly begging forgiveness for all mankind’s sins.
“His name is Faithful,” said one of the staff, handing us the leash. The entire shelter saw us off. Someone devout discreetly crossed us. That blessing sealed our union of three eternally.
John completely forgot about buying a pedigree dog. After all, “buying a dog” sounds odd, doesn’t it? Can you buy a friend? Is loyalty and love something you can purchase?
The dog trotted alongside us, and John let him off the leash to savor his freedom. It seemed the dog knew he was with us for life, and he would never cry again.
