For that one dog, their world will change forever
When we were ready to adopt a dog last year, we had an overwhelming number of local options. Minnesota is home to hundreds of rescue groups, and we had thousands of choices of adoptable dogs.
But I knew that other parts of the country – and world – fare far worse than us. Thousands of adoptable dogs die daily because there aren’t enough adopters. In some areas, there are websites that aggregate dogs slated for euthanasia that day or the next.
California is known as one of the most progressive animal welfare states in the country, but despite their efforts, an incredible number of dogs are euthanized. On the day I searched one of the websites, I saw 403 dogs scheduled for euthanasia the next day.
Because of the overwhelming need, we decided to focus our adoption search on this part of the country. Our adoption criteria? A dog who didn’t mind riding in the car, because their ride home would involve a 2,000 mile journey.
Our online search drew us to a wonderful dog named Rex. We had a Zoom meeting with his foster family, and Rex jumped up to greet us though the camera. Our hearts melted. What was not to love? Rex was incredibly cute, with deep brown eyes and extra special ears. We learned that Rex was playful and sweet, and loved other dogs. He was shy and took a little time to warm up to people, which was no big deal to us. His foster family thought he would be fine with a road trip home to Minnesota, and gave us the green light to adopt him.
We booked a flight and a rental car to get back home, eagerly counting down the three weeks until our schedules allowed us to pick him up. Though we hadn’t yet met him, we loved Rex already.
Rex shyly introduced himself to us.
When adoption day arrived, we headed to Rex’s foster home, nearly bursting with anticipation. Rex was timid when he saw us, but we visited with his fosters for a bit, learning more about him. Before long, Rex jumped up on the couch and checked us out, and then licked our faces. He thought we’d be suitable adopters, I think.
Rex quickly settled into his new life with us. He is every bit as special as we expected. He’s empathetic and loving. He bounds around the yard with joy, running alongside butterflies and play-bowing to crickets. He has world-class snuggling abilities.
We were so lucky to find him.
Rex’s fate could have been much different if not for the kindness of multiple people, and oddly, malnourishment. Rex had been living on the streets of Mexico when he was rescued by a kind woman. He was young and very underweight, which caused the rescuer to mistake him for a Rat Terrier – a small-breed dog more desirable to many adopters than the large-breed multi-mix he grew to be.
The woman posted about him on Facebook, and another rescuer in Mexico offered to temporarily care for him after seeing how skinny he looked in the photo. She then reached out to a rescue group in California, who agreed to take in this supposedly tiny Rat Terrier.
Rex arrived in his California foster home with a bad case of worms and a fear of steps, which meant he had to be carried up and down a full flight of stairs multiple times a day to use the bathroom. When his foster’s schedule changed and he could no longer help Rex, another foster family took him in.
Rex loves to cuddle and will often sprawl across my lap while I work.
If not for his exceptional luck encountering all of these wonderful people who wanted to help him, Rex might have died on the streets or floundered in a crowded shelter. Because he’s shy with new people, he would be easy to overlook in a shelter setting with countless other dogs.
Rex’s story had a happy ending, or really, a happy new beginning. Adopting him opened up a space for another dog to be helped. Rex’s amazing foster family headed to a crowded shelter the very next day, and brought Mr. Scootch home as their next foster. The adorable little guy had been waiting over 300 days for a home. Going into a foster home not only gave him a much-needed break from the stress and discomfort of shelter life, but also gave his foster family a chance to get to know him and highlight his most special attributes on social media to help find him an adopter.
After Mr. Scootch, they took in Benito, a beautiful Husky who had been waiting sixteen long months in a shelter. They found him a home too, and then helped Hazelnut, Buttercup, Daphne, and Felix. As each got adopted, they created an opening for another animal to get a chance, and then another. Each of them are incredibly special and deserving of a good life – every dog is.
The volunteer who fostered Rex says one of the hardest things is leaving animals behind. She’s met dogs at the shelter that captured her heart, but because her foster home was full, she couldn’t help them. She has gone to the shelter to pull a dog she intended to foster, only to learn they’d been euthanized.
There’s a famous quote: “Saving one dog will not change the world. But surely for that one dog, their world will change forever.”
There are millions more dogs like Rex – wonderful souls who are sure to enrich someone’s life. Some will have the luck of getting noticed and adopted; others will not. The sheer volume of animals in need is so overwhelming. But when we concentrate on helping one, then another, and another… imagine the combined impact we all can make.