Trying to get home perhaps
Perhaps looking to get away
Away from abuse or too much love
Love that fattened a speckled puppy
Puppy with a brown leather leash
Leash that once meant long walks
Walks turn into frantic scrambling
Scrambling to find a way back home
Home before day turns into night.
Note: Driving home from Good Friday services, I caught sight of a small brown and white dog, perhaps a setter, trying to squeeze its pudgy self beneath a wire fence beside the interstate.
A long leash was attached to its collar. There were no houses nearby; just a gas station.
Part of me wanted to stop and help. To find the little guy’s owner, certain that some poor youngster would be missing her BFF and spending the night in tears.
The other part won out. I didn’t know if the dog was rabid, if it had left a situation worse than running along the highway, or if it knew exactly where it was and intended to get home in due time.
Don’t you think that people who take on the responsibility of a pet should care for it better??
P.S. This poetry form is called Chain Verse (and no, I didn’t know it either, before I did some proper research!!)
P.S. 2. Happy Easter to all my wonderful online friends!!
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
A dilemma, we haven’t had rabies in our area in a domestic animal for more then 50 years, so I rescue you them when I find them. People tend to dump dogs out here……
You’ve got a kind heart, Cindy! I know there are people who do rescue dumped animals (cats and dogs, typically), but I could just imagine that pup trying to get away from me — and running right into the highway! That, I couldn’t bear.
Hi,
I fall into that category, too, Debbie, but I desire to be the one who STOPS and rescues the world!
HAPPY EASTER!! xx
I think we’d all like to be the rescuer, Kim, but the logistics are more than we bargain for. Darling Doggie Dallas would NEVER come to a stranger — most Shelties won’t — and if he were lost, he’d chase cars (and trucks) on the highway before letting a stranger approach him. I guess that’s what went through my mind. Happy Easter & Happy Spring! xoxo
Happy Easter to you as well! Poetry was awesome. Poor pup. But you did the safe thing, which is the smart thing, I’m thinking.
Bless your heart for saying that, Professor! It felt like the safe thing to me, too — I didn’t want to make the poor thing run right onto the interstate. At least he was safe in the grass (and I keep trying to convince myself that he’s home now, in one piece!)
Hope the Big Bunny finds you with lots of cherries and chocolate!!
*nods* I’m sure he is. Probably was messing around, you know.
Lots of cherries! And you, too, madam. I mean, hope you get lots of cherries and chocolate as well.
Great poem, Debbie! You are so gifted with words!
Like you, I probably would have been torn on what to do about the dog. What confuses me is why did the dog have a collar and leash on? Did it somehow get away from its owner while being walked, or was it tied up and then got loose? Hopefully, it found its way home.
Have a HAPPY EASTER, my friend! And enjoy the rest of your weekend!
X
Ron, your compliment makes me blush with pleasure — THANK YOU!!
I was wondering about the collar and leash, too. Maybe the poor pup had been tied out in somebody’s back yard and managed to make an escape. I can’t see anybody walking a dog alongside a highway and letting go of the leash! Then, too, maybe somebody was walking it while getting gas at that station, when the dog got loose (though nobody seemed to be looking for him!) ‘Tis a puzzle.
Hope your Easter is splendid, sunny, warm, and filled with all the things you love!
I do indeed think that people who take on pets should take good care of them, though sometimes pets have a mind of their own! *remembers Tommy’s kittenhood desire to drown himself in the toilet bowl and shudders* I’d probably have bumbled in – over here we don’t have to worry about rabies – but probably have just ended up making the situation worse. It’s always difficult to know what to do in these kind of situations, and often they turn out not to be quite as they first look…
Hope you’re having a lovely Easter!
Hey, FF, and Welcome — now that you’ve been “approved,” your comments won’t go to the Pending area.
Poor Tommy *shudders* The toilet bowl?? You must have been horrified!
We’re only able to draw conclusions based on our own experiences, I guess, and knowing my Sheltie the way I do, I felt pretty certain I couldn’t stop and approach this “lost dog” without bad consequences. That might sound like a feeble excuse, but it’s the truth!
Good to see you over here, ma’am — my Easter has been splendid, and I hope yours has, as well!!
I rescue because I can – leash and crates in the car but fortunately it doesn’t happen all that often. While rabies isn’t much of a problem any more it can be tricky to catch a dog that doesn’t know you. I am sure he made it home safely and live happily ever after. Wonderful poem.
Thanks for your reassurance, Katybeth — I know I’m a soft touch when it comes to dogs! And you’re right, of course — it’s hard to “rescue” a pup that doesn’t need anybody’s help!
Happy Easter, Debbie. Sorry, I’m late. Wonderful poem!
Thanks, Audrey. Don’t worry about being late — I’m late replying because we’ve had just beastly weather and I didn’t want to fry my laptop! Hope your Easter was wonderful!
So the pup was just left to his or her own devices, to fend for itself? Sigh. Something like that happened to me once. I called a friend and the two of us managed to round the dog up. Thankfully we were able to find its home by putting some signs up in the neighborhood. Turns out the dog’s owners had gone on vacation and left the dog with a friend (who was staying with the dog in its house), but the dog got out of the yard and escaped. It was about a mile away at our neighborhood park when I found it. There was no way I could leave it running wild like that. If my friend hadn’t been home, would probably have called the local animal shelter and kept an eye on it until they arrived. That was plan B.
What a good, kind-hearted person you are, Monica! Wish I’d thought of that. Instead, I talked myself out of helping by imagining all the things that could go wrong — from dog bites to finding an angry, mind-your-own-business sort of owner. It just didn’t look like a situation I could win. I hope it found its way rather than the really bad scene I also can imagine.
As much as I wish you could have rescued that puppy, I think you did the right thing, Debbie. At my sister’s house for a family party recently, we could see a group of people in front of her house trying to round up a couple of strays. My sister being the animal lover she is, went outside with her dogs’ treats and tried to earn some trust from the dogs, but they were so skittish and a busy road was nearby. The group of rescuers did their best to just keep the dogs away from the road until the owners could arrive.
See? That’s exactly what worried me, Terri. And having a naturally skittish Sheltie, I couldn’t see the possibility of being able to coax this dog away from the fence while keeping it from running right onto the highway. I just pray st. Francis was looking out for the little guy!
I’ve never had any luck rescuing a lost animal… they are usually so frightened (or I’m so scary?) that they run away. Sometimes we get lucky and can rescue them, but other times, a prayer is the best we can do. I hope you had a happy Easter! (Yep, I’m very delayed, but at least I’m making some progress, haha 🙂 )