[PyrNet-L] Rescue: For those who rescue...

[Michaelene Sullivan <innerpuppie@30below.com>]

Rescued Dog

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 what ever 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 a 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 came so near.
And as she tended to my wounds
And bathed and brushed my fur
She told me bout 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 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 Rescue Person
to lift them off their feet".

Arlene Pace
September 18, 1998

When I wrote those poem it was inspired by my foster Sheltie
"Patchie: who
by
the way is in a home where he is the light of their eyes.  I
think now that
it is more in the way I see the rescue efforts of all the people
that are
doing such a great a job all over this country.  So I wish to
dedicate this
poem to all of you in rescue, the doers, the helpers, the
donators of money
and/or time and tears.
Please feel free to recopy, reprint or resend to anyone you would
like to.

--
Michaelene & Savannah Leigh, neighborhood busy body,
Tony III, my buddy, my protector, &
Willow, Pyrenean Princess of the Heart.
Michigan, USA