Brutus is our gorgeous Golden Lab that we adopted two years ago. He was saved from a high kill shelter in Missouri by Midwest Animal Rescue the night before he was scheduled to be gassed to death. It's hard enough for me to even comprehend that animals could be packed in to a room and killed in this manner, but it isn't just sick animals or animals with severe behavior issues. There are so many unwanted adult dogs and cats sitting in shelters right now waiting for a loving, safe home. Unfortunately, they don't understand what they have done wrong. They just feel scared. They don't know that they weren't trained properly, or that their owner developed allergies, or that their human dad may have lost his job.

On our journey that led us to Brutus, we came across a small female Treeing Walker Coonhound in the humane society. She was so beautiful, but if we even got within five feet of her, she would shake so hard that it would make her wet herself. I sat outside of her cage for a good thirty minutes and just talked softly to her, but nothing helped. My heart was just breaking. I wanted to take her home, but being a first time dog owner, I also knew that I was probably not equipped. I talked to the owner of the humane society to get her story. She had been tied to a tree for a year and a half, fed occasionally, and beaten often. That was the only life that she knew. They said that in all honesty, she would be more comfortable tied up to a tree outside, so they needed someone to take her in that had some psychological training and patience with abused animals. I knew that that couldn't be me, but I tried really hard to get the word out on facebook, and by writing to different rescue agencies. I never did hear what happened to that little girl, but I will never forget her, and often wish I would have been brave enough to just take her and deal with what I was handed.

I decided to write about our adventures of adopting and raising Brutus, which actually turned out to be a fun thing to do. He has been a clown, and a challenge, many times along the way. There have been times where we have thrown our arms up in the air and wondered what in the heck we were thinking, but at the same time wondered how we could ever live without that sweet face with those big brown eyes. I hope you enjoy our story.

And if you don't have time in your life for a pet of your own, consider donating your old sheets or towels to your local humane society or shelter. They are always in need of funding to care for the animals, but sometimes the simplest left over house hold item can be a life saver at an animal care facility.

Enjoy,
Sheri