For The Dogs

I have a friend who has many reasons that she's been put on this earth, but one of them I believe is to be the Dr. Doolittle of disenfranchised creatures, minus the weird talking to them part. One time we were in a van at 3 AM in Red Hook and she made us stop, because in a pack of stray feral dogs, there was one who ran up to our van. She took the dog in and found its owner.

Her own dog was a piece of work. Adopted from a shelter because no one else wanted him, this little guy was scrappy and tough, but much like Julia Roberts in that hooker flick, had a heart of gold. Because of my friend's love and kindness, this dog went from snappy to happy. Don't get me wrong, he had his moments. But to be fair maybe my couch really was his property and as such needed to be marked.

Recently he got sick and yesterday had to be put down. It's really sad- he's been around longer than most people I know. Last night when I got into bed I gave my dog an extra big hug. He sheepishly turned around to reveal he had an old plastic film container in his mouth that he had been chewing on. Ah, dogs. Anyway, here's to all the people in the world like my friend, the Sarah MacLachlans, the animal lovers. We give to them and they give back tenfold. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a dog like my friend's in their lifetime.