The Transporter

It has been a busy week for me in the Golden Retriever Rescue world, with one trip to the vet with our foster, Bubba (he's fine), and two transports. Transports are usually the first step in the rescue intake process, and involve picking up a dog (usually from a shelter) and taking the dog to one of our vets to get checked up and boarded until a foster home is ready.

So my first transport this week was nothing out of the ordinary. Picked up a sweet golden from a shelter about half an hour away and drove him to the vet's in Fort Worth.

The second transport, which I just finished up with a couple of hours ago, was something new. One of our volunteers was on Craigslist and found an ad for a golden, "free to a good home." Giving a dog away "free to a good home" is usually a great way to make sure that the home the dog goes to is not, in fact, "good." Fortunately, in this case, the woman agreed to sign the dog over to the rescue group. So I volunteered myself and off I went to pick up the dog.

To be perfectly honest, I tend to be judgmental about people who give away their dogs. I know I am something of a crazy dog lady, but we consider our dog part of the family and it's hard to imagine a circumstance in which we would give her up. So, while driving to "free to a good home" lady's house, I was feeling a little hostile towards her. These feelings were compounded by the fact that a) she had had the dog since he was a puppy, b) the dog had lived entirely outside, and c) the dog was not up to date on shots or on any kind of heartworm preventative. My irritation grew when I pulled up to her house a few minutes early and she was already waiting on the curb with the dog, like she just could not wait another minute to get rid of him. Ugh.

So I got out of the car, said hello to the (very dirty) dog, and gave "free to a good home" lady some release forms to fill out. All of a sudden, a little girl, probably around four years old, came running out the front door of the house. She threw her arms around the dog and said, "But I want him to stay!" Wow. What do you say to that? I just stood there, feeling a bit like the mean dog catcher in Annie, about to take a little girl's dog away from her. Fortunately, "free to a good home" lady spoke up and told her daughter that this was the best thing for the dog, and the girl went back inside. The lady didn't really elaborate on WHY this was the best thing for the dog, and I didn't ask. But I did realize that I probably should not be as judgmental as I am. I have absolutely no idea what is going on with their family--maybe there is something crazy going on that would make it impossible to keep the dog. Who knows.

All I know is that I loaded the dog into my car and we got out of there. He has officially spent his last night outside by himself in the dirt. He is no longer wearing the old, ill-fitting chain collar (I threw it away myself). He is at the vet's office now, getting a much overdue checkup, vaccinations, and a heartworm test (I can almost guarantee you it will come up positive--is it okay for me to still be a little judgmental about people who don't give their dogs proper vet care??). And I know for sure that the life he is heading for is much better than the one he had.