It is summer and my wife and daughter and I were out on Saturday picking up a few items for my daughter who was leaving for camp on Sunday. We passed by the Petco store in Troy, Michigan. They had a sign out front advertising that they had animal adoptions that day. Given that we are always a sucker for animals, and that this was the very place from which we adopted our own beloved Roxy (see earlier Dog of the Month selections) ... well, we had to go inside to visit with the critters.
It is always bittersweet attending these functions. There are so many abandoned animals in the world. In this case, volunteers from an organization called S.A.F.A.R.I (Special Animal Friends and Rescue INC) based in Livonia, MI, were showing a number of dogs rescued from all manner of deplorable conditions and all in need of loving homes.
My daughter was immediately drawn to a trio of three month old German Shepherd pups. But my attention was snagged by a soft eyed fellow named Thor. Thor is a two year old Pit Bull and Boxer mix with a wonderful brindle coat. Now I have always been apprehensive about Pit Bulls, needlessly, I am sure, but due to the reputation for fighting. Still, Thor put that to rest immediately. This gentle giant allowed me to pat his head and then moved gently into my chest and nuzzled softly as though he really needed a good hug. It turns out that Thor was abandoned along with his mother and spent over a year kenneled before finding a temporary foster home.
Dogs need their owners. Most prefer human company over that of other dogs. We have bred them for centuries as companions. Nothing is more heartbreaking to a dog than abandonment. Thor’s eyes told a tale of pain and sorrow and of a heart waiting sadly for someone to love.
Now, be aware that our home already houses a dog, three cats, a parrot and two teenagers. It was all I could do to not gather up this wonderful fellow and take him home, and part of me is still wishing I had done so.
In our program Animals and The Environment, we focus part of the school show on abandoned exotic pets and the less than desirable ramifications of adopting some kind of creature not bred to be a pet or companion. Kids, though they love seeing the creatures we present to them, readily understand the good reasons for not adopting wild animals.
When there are so many wonderful friends waiting in “no-kill” shelters around the country, and so many more being put to death thru no fault of their own, it just makes no sense at all to adopt other essentially wild species.
If you are in South East Michigan or North West Ohio, and have a little extra room in your life, please consider giving the folks at SAFARI a call. You could look a long time to find a better potential friend than Thor, Mobile Ed’s School Assembly Site Dog of the Month for July.
You can contact S.A.F.A.R.I. at:
PO Box 532353
Livonia MI 48153
734-666-0116
http://www.safarianimalrescue.org/contact-us.html
Please contact me with information about and a photograph of your favorite pooch and we will consider making your best friend our "Dog of the Month" for next month!
Geoff Beauchamp is the Regional Manager of Mobile Ed Productions where "Education Through Entertainment" has been the guiding principal since 1979. Mobile Ed Productions produces and markets quality educational school assembly programs in the fields of science, history, writing, astronomy, natural science, mathematics, character issues and a variety of other curriculum based areas. In addition, Mr. Beauchamp is a professional actor with 30 years of experience in film, television and on stage. He created and still performs occasionally in Mobile Ed's THE LIVING LINCOLN.