Seeley

So there is a really good possiblity that I am about to get my heart broken........damn this compassionate nature of mine.....

I am watching my friend Pat's dog while she is on vacation. He is a beautiful dog named Donnie, and I have loved him since the moment I met him six years ago. This is not the story...

I went over today to take Donnie on a walk (this was the first time I've been there....they left this morning) and as I climbed the back stairs, I heard a little growl and small bark. I look up and standing on the landing ahead of me is a chihuahua. He is skinny. Not typical chihuahua skinny....I mean, can see almost every bone in his little body. He is growling, teeth bared. Not looking too friendly. I said, (in my attempt to be damn Dr. Doolittle) "Hi there baby dog" and he instantly looked at me, came up to me and started licking my foot. Then he started the jumping up and down, crawling under my feet little happy scamper that little tiny dogs can do.

After I got inside the apartment, I gave Donnie some food and water and took a plate of food out to the little one (who, in an attempt to become hopelessly attached, I have named Seeley). He scarfed the food like he was, well, starving.

I took Donnie down the front stairs and thought about Seeley the entire walk.

The facts: The apartment Pat lives in is walled up....there is a large wooden wall between their two flat and the alley, the gangway and stops on the building. Now, a little dog like Seeley could potentially climb under such a fence, or slide between the small cracks in the gate, but I'm not sure he would stay there, confined, unless he felt safe (which, technically, he IS much safer there than in the streets).

Pat's downstairs neighbors weren't home when I was there, so I could ask them if they just rescued the dog and were keeping it in the walled-up area for awhile. It seems to me that one of the perks of having a dog the size of a human foot is to be able to keep it in places like apartments, but that's just me. A chihuahua doesn't seem like a dog that needs much room to run. A run from our bathroom to the dining room would wear one out. But I digress......It's possible that this family has just rescued this dog and he hasn't gotten used to having food. You know, the whole 'starving animal syndrome' (and the one I STILL have from my first semester of school, starving and living off of expired Luna Bars in Key Lime Pie atrosity *ahem* flavor). Of all the animals my family has rescued over the years, I understand that once an animal has been starving, they tend to always eat like it's their last meal. Again, I can understand that.

I'm waiting for Pat to call me back and tell me if she knows if the neighbors just acquired a dog. I think she would have said something to me, but maybe in the excitement of packing up a husband and two year old, she forgot.

I don't know what to do.

KittenFatCat would eat Seeley. And ask for more. There is no way we could bring Seeley into the apartment. Life would be hell. KFC would make it so.

But there's no way I can leave Seeley in a backyard if he really doesn't belong to anyone living there. My bleeding heart will just not allow it.

I've checked out the Anti-Cruelty website and might make a phone call there tomorrow if I hear from Pat and/or the neighbors. I would really rather ask if anyone I know wants him. That way, I would know he was getting a good home and I could visit him.

As I was leaving, I said goodbye to Donnie and locked up. Seeley was waiting for me outside the door, whining and tail all a-wag. I sat and petted him for a few minutes. He jumped in my lap, put his paws on either side of my head, and gave me kisses all over my face and neck. Then he laid down in my lap, his face resting on my arm, and gave me his belly to rub. Obviously, this was someone's baby at one point in time.

It's breaking my heart, knowing that there is a baby out there with no one to love it tonight. I know there are thousands of babies in the city alone with no one to love them, but I haven't held any of them. They are in my thoughts (almost always) but this one left his hair on my black tank top.

Steve and I have a magnet that we bought (the first thing we bought for the new place) and it says "Everything Happens for a Reason".

Pat never mentioned the dog.
I have never seen him before today.
Today was the first day I took care of Donnie.

Things are leading me to believe I was supposed to find Seeley. But now that I've found him, what do I DO about him?

In my ideal world, everyONE and everyTHING will have someone to love them every night.

I just wonder why I was supposed to find this little tan nippy dog.......damn my Pisces sensitivity.....