Ashamed To Be Human...

I am a huge animal lover. My whole life I have had animals around me and as I child I would constantly be bringing a baby bird, puppy or kitten home to my Mum that I would find hurt or abandoned on the street.
I grew up loving my dogs as if they were my Brothers and Sisters and have had dogs all my adult life and the first thing I did when I moved into my house here in Brasil was to get a puppy: my lazy Labrador "Bridget Jones" soon followed by one more: "Lucy Diamond" a tiny black mongrel, no bigger than my hand at the time, who "found me" on a busy road near my home when I was returning from shopping. I saw her and we connected... she seemed to know me, she ran up to me so happy and I loved her instantly and carried her home with me to keep. I believe that she is an "old soul" as she has an affinity with me and I truly believe that she is a reincarnation of a loved one... you can call me crazy but I really believe that. She looks at me with the eyes of someone who has known me and loved me all of my life...

My "family" increased to three last year when I bought my little baby "Minnie Osbourne" a tiny black and tan Chihuahua, who is adult now but still no bigger than my hand. She is adorable and spends every waking hour with me and is also a film-lover just like me, staying glued to the television screen when we are watching Dvd's - her favourites are romantic comedies.

Dogs never let you down, they will be there for you long after a false friend has dissappeared and long after that argument that you had with your Sister.
If you have an "angry" or "sad" day they will still greet you with a wagging tail and a lick on the hand or face to make everything better. Their love is unconditional and I can never understand why there are so many people that choose to mistreat them.

So imagine my sadness last week when Lucy was barking and crying in the kitchen after hearing something outside... I had heard the sound of a car stopping and then speeding off again...
I opened the kitchen door and let her out through the varanda into the garden... She was going crazy and barking at something outside in the quiet little road that sits alongside my house.
I couldn't see anything as it was very dark, the time was around midnight, so I went inside to get the torch to see what it was.
There outside my house was a cardboard box and as Lucy was sniffing and crying two adorable tiny puppies, no older than 4 weeks, came looking out of the box very nervously. I got my keys and rushed outside to get them and bring them into the house, horrified at the fact that some cruel bastard, or bastards, had abandoned them in the first weeks of their little lives on a dark quiet road, but of course they must have known that a dog lover lived in this house...

One was completely black and the other was black and white, very tiny and looking very scared but very happy to see me, so happy in fact that the black and white one wouldn't stop crying with excitement as if to say "Thank God! Please Help Us!" The black one was more shy, sitting in the corner and looking at me with a face that said "Thank You" - a look that could truly break your heart... it did mine.

The first thing I did was to get some spare food bowls that I have and give them food and water... they were absolutely starving and ate two whole bowls of dog food! and also drank 2 whole bowls of water... and these are big bowls! I was cursing the people who had left them outside my garden and feeling very, very sad that people can be so barbaric and unloving... I was angry!!! Not only had these people abandoned them but they left them without feeding them first.

They both did some little poo's on the kitchen floor and it was full of worms... so my next stage began: worming tablets that I always keep in the house, and gave to them both.
They were both very dirty and very skinny, but even so they looked healthy and had a nice sparkle in their eyes, nothing that the worming tablets, some good quality dog food and a warm bath couldn't fix.
Everywhere I was going they were following me, the black and white one still crying to me while the black one followed faithfully behind him, their two little bums wiggling as they walked. I was talking to them and telling them "Everything is going to be o.k. now, you're safe"

Anyway I got some old towels and took them into the bathroom to give them a warm shower with puppy flea shampoo and as I was washing them reality set in... how can I keep these beautiful babies? (yes I already had it firmly set in my mind that I was keeping them) when I already have three "Daughters" of my own? As adorable as they were I had to think rationally as three dogs are a lot of work already, cost quite a bit to feed each month and not to mention having to put them in a dog hotel when I travel... which is a lot of times each year.
How big would they grow? They aren't going to stay tiny like this forever... but my heart was breaking at the thought of all this as the connection, the bond, was already growing between us (true dog-lovers will fully understand this)
My mind was in turmoil: What to do? What to do?

Then I remembered my friend who owns the dog hotel where my girls stay when I travel...
I phoned her and asked if she had room for two more little puppies that had just been abandoned outside my garden. She said that she already has 56 dogs of her own... yes you heard me correctly: 56 dogs! all pets! (mostly strays, hurt or abandoned dogs) but remember that this is a huge dog hotel in the countryside with acres of land...
Anyway she agreed to take them and try to get them adopted, which I said must really be together as these two little beauties need each other after being abandoned so cruelly and they were also so close; following each other everywhere and "kissing" each other constantly, which was a joy to watch.

As I waited for my friend to arrive at the house I spent my last half an hour with these two little babies who had unexpectedly come into my life on that dark, cold night. Many thoughts were going through my head... but the constant thought was "Am I abandoning these two adorable puppies? Are they being abandoned for the second time in one night?" God I felt terrible! But, although I felt heartbroken that I had to deal with it rationally and could not have five dogs in my house, I felt that I had done a good thing... I had given these puppies a good start in life, they had had a lot of food and water, they had their first dose of worming tablets and also a warm bath and were climbing all over me as I sat on the kitchen floor and played with them for those final minutes.

My friend arrived and I got a clean cardboard box, put a blanket inside and gave her the two plastic food bowls that I had used for them and off they went on their next phase of their little lives...
"I'll bring the bowls and blanket back to you tomorrow" she said
"No way!" I said "They are for them!"

But there is a happy ending! Now seven days later they are living with a family who have adopted them! In the countryside with a big garden, and are getting lots of love - the love that they should have got since the very beginning of their lives, but I have hope for them and believe that they are going to be alright.
I'm just happy that whoever abandoned them decided to leave them outside my garden as some other person may not have been so kind as to take them in. Maybe they could have been unseen in the dark and could have even got knocked down by a car or killed by some wild animal.

What I can't stop thinking since that night is "Why?" - Why would anyone be so cruel as to abandon any animal? Let alone these two beautiful little puppies who only had love in their hearts?! Would they have abandoned their own child on a dark roadside in the first weeks of it's life, knowing nothing about whether it would survive or not? What kind of people exist in this world?!
One thing I know is that I don't count myself among you...

It's a good thing that I didn't see or meet the person who left them outside my garden, and who sped off into the night, as I would most probably have done something that I would have regretted afterwards...
No, it's a good thing that these "humans" will remain nameless and faceless... however I have a name for them:
Shameless, Worthless Fucking Low-Lifes.