Bellow's Story

About a month ago, I wrote about a dog whose owner relinquished her while I was at the shelter.

This adorable basset hound named Bellow, is just one of the animals I've seen surrendered while volunteering at the shelter.

Honestly, I can't remember a time I was volunteering for a couple hours when I didn't hear the shelter staff over the loud speaker say something to the effect of: "Please prepare a kennel in the big dog room for a new dog." That's what they say when there is someone in the lobby who came in with a dog and will leave without one.

So, while Bellow isn't a rare story at the shelter, she was the first dog I saw relinquished, so I've watched her from the start and seen the change a shelter environment can have on an animal.

Today when I walked into the back room of the rescue, Bellow was asleep on her bed much unlike the other times I've seen her. She didn't open her eyes when she heard me coming. She didn't give me a longing stare, silently begging me to take her on a walk. She didn't howl, pleading for me to care that she was in a cage by herself. She didn't care that I was there this time.

It occurred to me that people walk by her every day and don't stop. In fact, more than that - a lot of people don't even come to look. They try to save their hearts and they try to pretend that dogs like Bellow don't exist.

In the single month that she has been at the shelter, Bellow has become desensitized.

She now doesn't expect to be pet. She doesn't expect to be loved. She doesn't expect to even be looked at.

As a volunteer, I can devote three hours on a weekend to walking dogs and only get through walking six or seven animals. Despite the best efforts of the small staff and group of volunteers at the shelter, it's pretty frequent that all the dogs don't get walked every day - or if they do, they only get a single walk and end up spending nearly 24-7 in a small cage in a loud room.

I don't blame Bellow for giving up a little bit after being in a shelter for a month - it must be an unbearable change to go from a loving home with a soft cushy dog bed, to being confined with little human or animal (or any kind) of contact.

And despite the stressful conditions of a shelter environment, I'm constantly impressed with how quickly dogs can light up and instantly come to life with excitement that you are there to spend a couple minutes with them - walk them, pet them, brush them, give them some kind of effort.

This post is just to recognize that we shouldn't be making these dogs wait too long - we shouldn't make them lose faith in humans.

We can give them hope and we can do it now. You can make a difference in their lives - whether it is volunteering, donating money, encouraging people you know to rescue rather than buy, or if you're able, adopting a shelter pet yourself.

Whatever it is, don't wait to start making a difference.
Dogs like Bellow are literally waiting for you.