Alone and Defenseless

Poor thing was crawling with fleas and was too young to open his eyes
Poor thing was crawling with fleas and was too young to open his eyes

Had my heart broken today…for this little guy. I was on my way to work when I heard a series of little cries coming from a bush on the other side of a tall fence. He was so well camouflaged I almost missed him. I called out to him and after every call he would whine, as if he was communicating or was uncomfortable with the silence. His blue eyes were barely open, and his legs struggled to carry his own weight. After thirty minutes of trying to get him to come to me, I knew I had to get to my internship. At exactly 1 p.m. I rush to the gate with my friend Lucresia Sanchez. He was still there but he was not moving or responding. For a second I thought he was dead. On the other side of the gate there was an 11 year old boy (guessing his age) trying to train/ride this huge horse. He so kindly came over to help us get to this puppy that we thought it might be old enough to be fed the meat from our packed lunch (we were so wrong) When he pulled the little guy out from under the bush and from the crack of two stones… my heart melted and I wanted to take him home. His chances of survival are beyond slim even if his mother didn’t neglect him and was out looking for food. He was covered in fleas, and enjoyed the comfort of my hands. I eventually returned him to his bush, tucked away my tears, and prayed for his mother’s return.

And to answer the questions, “why didn’t you take him to an animal rescue shelter?” I was in a smaller town up in the mountains in the Dominican Republic where stray dogs can be seen five to a block. I give them my left overs when I have some and I’m careful not to step on any as they snooze in the middle of the day scattered along the sidewalks. There aren’t any dog shelters as we know them, but they do have a few pet stores where the conditions are definitely way worse than a bush. Disgustingly I’ve almost become immune to the dogs that run around here with their ribs showing and their scraggly matted unkempt fur. But this was the first time I saw a little puppy.

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