a letter from a shelter dog

see my face, i am not disposable. look into my eyes, and then look into your heart and you tell me that my life is not worth your effort. your decision to adopt me and make me a member of your family is a life-long, my life-long commitment.


when you decided to move away from our home, did you ever stop to think of me? tell me, did the other two-legged children suffer a similar fate? in this chain-linked exposure where you left me behind, there are many others, who like me, face abandonment by the very ones we loved and trusted the most. it’s sad that you moved too far away to hear my cries at night. i cry at night because all i want is our life back. you remember the one, you would sit at your table and i would lie at your feet. or together, in front of the television, i would snuggle against you hoping that your hand dangling by the sofa would just scratch my belly or that spot behind my ear. you remember, i know you do!

god, what i wouldn’t give to go home with you again! you say you don’t have time for me anymore, i heard you tell the woman at the desk when you left me here. it’s a lie, i know it’s a lie! you don’t mean that, do you? sure, you went away for a long time each day but i understood. you told me you had to earn the dog biscuits. i understood why you left me alone at home. i can’t understand why you are leaving me here alone now.

you may not have been perfect master, but you were perfect to me. i forgave you for those times when you were angry with me that i couldn’t understand what i did wrong. if you told me i was bad, then i probably was, right? you wouldn’t hurt me. i know you wouldn’t hurt me.

this is why i don’t understand why you left me here - scared, alone and without you. i miss you and our life together. sure i know we had a good life. i hear the stories told by the others who surround me in this place. they cry over beatings and neglect, of being hungry and tortured by cruel ones. they lived on the streets and tell scary stories of the world outside of here. no, this is not like you and me at all.

no, outside of here, we took walks together. sometimes, it was just you and i sniffing at the world together. we had food and from time to time, you’d slip me a treat under the table. the comfort of your face meant everything to me.

and now it’s gone. you took your face and your comfort away from me. i sit here alone in this cold place and wonder what happens next. i wonder patiently who will look into my eyes and tell me my life is worth the effort.