Crossposted at Street Prophets
Ever since we got married, my wife has said how much she wanted to get a dog. I always had an excuse as to why we couldn't: I was in law school, I was studying for the bar, we both work too much, etc. etc. I had a miniature dachshund as a teenager--we adopted her when she was nine years old because her then-owner couldn't take care of her anymore. We only had about five years with her, but I loved that dog a lot. Mrs. Sox had a beagle-something else mix, but her mom wound up being allergic, and they had to put the dog up for adoption.
Finally, a couple of months ago, I gave in and decided that we should indeed get a dog. I didn't care exactly what kind of dog it was, just one that would be decent for our condo (read: small and quiet), and one that was either at a pound, or with a rescue organization.
Initially, we thought we would get a Basenji. They're small, low-shedding, non-barking, and generally bright dogs. But when the rescue guy came over about a dog we found on his organization's website, we learned that the dog needed to be placed in a multi-dog home. Still, he promised to get back to us with other adoption opportunities. He never did.
One day last month, while perusing petfinder.com, my wife found a gorgeous American Staffordshire Terrier named Kita. Kita was 2.5 yrs. old, had been rescued from a puppy mill and an abusive owner who kept her chained up outside, and was residing in a kill shelter in Radford, VA. After two months of looking for a human to adopt her, no one had. A local rescue organization placed a notice for her on Petfinder, and we were taken by both how pretty she was, and how desperate she was for a good home.
(Kita is ready for her first Passover)
See, American Staffordshire Terriers (or AmStaffs) are not easy to place once they wind up in rescue. They are closely related to the pit bull, with all the negative (and largely unfair) stereotypes that surround that breed. In other words, she was a prime candidate to be put down. And as we come upon the annual celebration of Passover, I see some of the story in her.
Passover celebrates the Jews' exodus from Egypt, where they toiled away as slaves under the cruel Pharoah. According to the Book of Exodus - Moses, a simple Jewish shepherd, was instructed by God to go to the pharaoh and demand the freedom of his people.
Moses' famous plea of "let my people go" was ignored. Moses in turn warned the Pharaoh that God would send severe punishments to the people of Egypt if the Israelites were not freed. Again the Pharaoh ignored Moses' request of freedom. In response God unleashed a series of 10 terrible plagues on the people of Egypt.
While I don't intend to inflict any kind of punishments on anyone, there is a definite connection to my sweet little dog. Her previous owner denied her request for freedom in a sense--the freedom to live a good, happy life as all dogs should. When she was denied this freedom, the owner was punished by the state, and Kita was taken from him, with the hope that she would eventually find her way to a good home.
When the Pharaoh finally agreed to freedom, the Israelites left their homes so quickly that there wasn't even time to make food for their journey, so they brought raw dough. As they fled through the desert they quickly baked the dough on their backs, in the hot sun into matzohs. Today to commemorate this event, Jews eat matzoh in place of bread during Passover.
Though the Jews were now free from slavery, they weren't fully liberated. The Pharaoh's army chased them through the desert towards the Red Sea. When the Jews reached the sea they were trapped, since they could not very well swim across such a mighty body of water.
Though Kita was free from the puppy mill, she wasn't out of the woods just yet. As I stated earlier, she was brought to a kill shelter, meaning that once they were out of space for her, she would have been euthanized for no reason other than the fact that she didn't have a family to care for her. According to the Humane Society, over three million cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters every year. As a second cousin of the American Pit Bull, the grossly misunderstood AmStaff is harder to place than, say, a golden retriever, or a garden variety mutt. Kita had her proverbial matzoh, in healthy food and a safe place to sleep, but she was in many ways staring down the Red Sea.
When the Jews found themselves trapped between the Pharoah's army and the Red Sea, a miracle occurred. The waves of the Red Sea parted and the Israelites were able to cross to the other side. As soon as they all reached the other side, the sea closed trapping the Pharaoh's army as the waves closed upon them.
Then as the Israelites watched the waters of the Red Sea sweep away the Pharaoh's army they realized they were finally free.
Kita's miracle came in the form of an organization called Pound Pals. According to their website, "The core mission of Pound Pals of Radford, Inc. is the prevention of suffering, neglect, abuse and cruelty to animals by working in conjunction with our local animal shelter in all phases of animal placement and rescue."
Pound Pals worked with the shelter to find Kita a home and offered to place her in foster care if the shelter determined that Kita would need to be euthanized. Through phone calls, e-mails, and a fax or two, Pound Pals found a local college student heading up in our direction who was willing to transport Kita to us.
I wouldn't quite compare Mrs. Sox and I adopting Kita to the waters of the Red Sea swallowing the Pharoah's army, but I think she looks like she has realized that she is finally free:
As the story goes, after the Romans defeated the Jews and drove them from Israel, they sacked the original temple and declared that the land of Israel would be no more. Thus, at the end of every Passover seder, we repeat the longing phrase, "Next year, in Jerusalem."
I hope my home is Kita's "Jerusalem," so to speak. But what she has reminded me is that every dog deserves their own Jerusalem--a loving family to take care of them. The dog will, I assure you, more than repay the favor.
On the web:
Free Kibble
The Animal Rescue Site
The Humane Society
Pound Pals of Radford
Petfinder