HELLO.....IT'S OVER 100 DEGREES OUT HERE

Dear Readers, it breaks my heart to write this blog but I am inspired by a dog in my neighborhood who I avoid passing because I know that he will be there...alone, hot or cold and tied to a chain. Please feel free to print this and give it to or anonymously send this to anyone you think may benefit. If one person wakes up, this will be the BEST blog I have ever written. This could be any dog, but probably not a boston, as with their minimal fur and short noses, they would never survive. Thank you for reading.

Dear Human,

I think you named me George, but I don't hear it very often so I'm not sure. I think I have been here for 3 years because I remember 3 hot summers and 3 cold winters since you hooked me to the end of this chain. Time doesn't really matter anymore. All the days and nights are the same. I know that time passes slowly for me but it eventually does pass.

I was born in a big box in a house. I had a dog Mom who nursed me, taught me acceptable behavior and who kept me warm and clean. My Mom had a human too but her human called herself Mamma. There was a man human and little humans there too. I remember the little humans would come play with me and my litter mates all the time. We would slather them with doggie kisses and they would laugh with delight. I learned to play with them and with my litter mates. I learned to eat food and drink water out of a bowl. We had rubber rings to chew on, towels and blankets to lay on and lots of newspapers around us which I quickly learned were the right place to answer nature's call. As we grew bigger, lots of other humans would come to see us. They would pick some of us up, hold us, give us treats and play with us.

Then one day, my sister left the box with a human and never came back. The next day, two of my brothers left the same way and finally my last brother left. I was alone in the box, but I still had Mom and the nice humans there. I continued to grow and thought that this would be my life and I was just fine.

I got to go on a car ride one day with the one my Mom called Mamma. She put me in a big box with a wire door and put the box in the back seat. She was sad and crying. She talked to me on the ride and told me that she loved me but I had to leave now because I was too big for the box and the place where we lived only allowed 2 adult dogs. I guess that would be my Mom and the other dog who I used to hear barking in the back yard.

I thought maybe she was taking me to meet back up with my litter mates and I thought that would be just fine.

We arrived at a building that smelled like a vet's office. She carried me, still in my crate, signed some papers and handed me to a lady behind a counter. The lady took me in the back and put me in a cage, gave me food and water and left. I was lonesome and scared but it was cool in there and lots of people came by and talked to me or even took me outside on a thing called a leash and let me smell all the wonderful things outside. I thought that I would be just fine.

One day, a human came and took me out for a walk and spent a lot of time with me in the grass. Then, they signed papers like my Mom's Mamma did, put me in another box with another wire door, put me in his car and took me to their house. This human didn't talk much on the way home but I knew I was going on a new adventure and I would be just fine.

When we arrived, I met the female human who lived there. They played with me, rubbed my ears, patted me, and gave me food and water. I would be just fine.

Then came the collar, the silver chord they called a chain and the hook that connected the two. I didn't understand then that I would be hooked to this collar and chain for the rest of my life. I didn't know then that my life would consist of the space that the chain would allow me to move, that although I would get food and water, no one would talk to me any more, play with me or even acknowledge me. This became my life and I knew that I would never be just fine again.

I tried for awhile to be as cute as I could whenever anyone would come out the front door. I would do a play bow, and try to run in circles on my chain. I would bark when other humans walked by to get their attention but they never came to see me. Are they afraid of me? Or are they afraid of the human that lives here? I just want some company, please come see me, please!!! Eventually, I stopped trying, and understood that my time would pass sleeping, eating, and drinking. The humans inside the house would get out of their cars and walk right past me to the front door. They didn't even stop to say hello. I stopped caring whether it was morning or night, and I stopped hoping that things would change.

One day humans dressed in uniforms came to my house. They actually did speak to me on their way to my door but they were afraid to pat me. I wouldn't hurt them - I wish they knew that. They talked to the human and left. The next day, he brought a plastic box with a door and threw it in my area. He lengthened my chain so I could go in and out of the box and he brought me extra bowls of water. The uniform men have not been back.

It's so hot out here today that I can feel my stomach burning, my eyes are watery and my tongue is dry. The sun beats down on me like a fire. I go in my box where at least the sun is blocked but you can't imagine how hot and sweaty it is inside that box. My ears hurt, my paw pads are blistered and I feel the spirit of my puppy hood break and vanish forever.

Please Mr. Human, why did you go get me to put me on this chain? I would have been your companion, your protector and your friend. I would have learned all that you wanted to teach me and I would have made you so proud. I could have been handsome but now my fur is dirty, my ears are bug bitten and I have sores on my skin. Do I have some purpose out here on this chain? If so, please let me know what it is and I will try to do better at it. Just please talk to me or pat me. Please don't continue to leave me out here all alone. I am so hot. If you would just put a box, inside, I promise I would make myself small enough to fit in it. Please at least tell me why or what I did to make you act this way. I so want to understand. Please Mr. Human...