It happened again.
Though I didn’t write about it immediately, on the very day my column was published about the dog abandoned along the roadside at Siloam Springs City Lake, another dog showed up on our doorstep.
For those who don’t remember, my column on the day before Thanksgiving questioned why anyone would dump a dog along the road and leave it to starve to death or be killed. Yet, that is apparently what happened at City Lake. We intervened and picked up the dog over the weekend until the county’s animal control officer could come and get it on Monday morning.
But that wasn’t the end of our dealings with abandoned dogs. On that same Wednesday when the article was published, another dog showed up.
When my wife pulled up in the driveway after work, she called me - I was inside working at my computer - and asked me to come outside because a large dog was just outside her car and she didn’t know if she should get out.
I went and found a good-size German Shepherd-Rottweiler cross - at least, that’s what I think he was - standing beside her car waiting to greet her.
He was a friendly dog and just wanted some attention. He followed us into the garage and would have come right into the house with us if we had let him. We were a bit apprehensive about letting him inside because of our much smaller dog barking away at our visitor, but later she slipped out and the two mingled with no problems.
Though we were fond of our visitor and would have liked to give him a home, renting our living quarters didn’t allow us that freedom. I called the city police and asked if the animal control officer could pick up the animal so he wouldn’t be run over or, perhaps, frighten someone because of his size. The ACO was not on duty but we were told someone would come by and pick up the dog when going to feed the other dogs at the city pound.
We had church services that night and had to leave. We expected our visitor would be gone by the time we returned later in the evening. But he wasn’t gone when we came home. He was waiting for us and greeted us with wagging tail.
Perhaps thinking he had found a new home, he slept on our front porch that night. Each time I went out the door, he was right there watching for me. If I walked out into the yard, he walked right beside me as if heeling. When I stopped, he stopped and sat down at my side.
It was quite obvious he had come from a good home. He was well-mannered. We wondered how it is he arrived at our door step and why? Perhaps his master didn’t have room for him anymore. Perhaps he couldn’t afford dog food.
Mrs. Griz and I thought about keeping him and taking him back to her dad in northwestern Kansas. He has room and might enjoy the company of a good dog. We even nicknamed him Bruno because of his resemblance to a brown bear.
But my father-in-law already has a donkey to keep him company. We took him a Sicilian donkey for Christmas several years back. Would he appreciate it if we brought him a dog too?
We thought that Bruno might just be lost. Perhaps someone was looking for him. We called again for animal control and he was picked up later on Thanksgiving morning. We hoped his owner could be found and reunited with his friend.
However, as of last Friday, that still hasn’t happened. He’s still in the city’s dog shelter waiting for a good home, along with nine or 10 other dogs in a similar situation.
How someone could just dump him we don’t understand. What will happen to him, we don’t know.
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be reached by email at [email protected] .
Opinion, Pages 5 on 12/28/2011