One other thing. While driving to the grocery story, Amy saw a white dog (looked like a shepherd/husky mix) rooting around in some garbage at the end of our block and no one else was around. She approached him and, although skittish, he didn’t appear mean. Attached to his leash was about twenty-five feet of cord with a snapped end, so we were pretty sure he just broke out of his back yard. No tags on his collar, though. It was almost dark, rainy, and getting cold.

We walked him to our house and put him in the yard. Amy watched him while I called Animal Control and found out, lo!, that they don’t work on Sunday. The guy on the phone said I could keep the dog in my yard or garage until the morning when someone from the city could come get him. Or what else? Turn him loose? “That’s your decision,” he said. Or I if I hurried I could take him to the Humane Society which closed at 5:00. It was 4:45 when I learned this but that sounded a whole lot more comfortable from him than sleeping outside or in the garage and, as much as we were tempted to bring him in the house, we had no idea how he’d be with Athena and, more importantly, Heineken.

We loaded him into the back of the Jeep and I sped across town, arriving at 5:01 and, luckily, the folks at the Humane Society weren’t clock watchers. They took him and I filled out a little paperwork. If he hadn’t been collected in seven days, he’d be put up for adoption. If he hadn’t been adopted in a “reasonable” amount of time, he’d be euthanized. *gulp* But he was a nice boy, knew how to sit, and didn’t ever snap or even bark at us. He had a nice leather collar and he smiled and wagged his tail when he saw me come out of the house to load him into the car. He’s really friendly, he’s just lost… :sad:

Amy just called the Humane Society and his owners picked him up this morning. Sleepless night for them, sleepless night for him, and restless night for us because we had to have both Athena and Heineken sleep on the bed. I’ll be a wreck whenever I have kids.

Two things I learned: it’s amazing that I expect 24-hour service for someone from the city to come pick up a stray dog I found late on a Sunday afternoon, and that this could have been so much easier on everyone had the fella been wearing a $3 dog tag.

Current Mood - Relieved |
Currently Listening To - The White Stripes - “De Stijl” (yes, still the White Stripes)