Daily thoughts - Another sad story hoping for a happy ending

A friend adopted a stray dog whom she and her son has learned to love. The dog followed her son home one day and was so amiable and super friendly that my friend decided to take him in. She named him Pluto. It could have been a wonderful forever home kind of story for this apparently sweet dog. Everything would have been great if only the older dog accepted Pluto. After almost 4 weeks, my friend concluded that its not going to happen. The two dogs getting along seem like a remote possibility.  The older dog just wont accept Pluto.

Another major issue to consider is that the older dog is 5lbs and Pluto is 20lbs. At one point even the kindest animal will retaliate and get physical if subject to this constant hostility and eventually this will be a real problem. Sadly, my friend knew how this was going to end. One has to go. It was not an easy decision for her and she has begged family members to give the dog another chance but she had to understand, one day Pluto will get tired of being pushed around and it might end ugly.

Reluctantly and with a broken heart she drove Pluto to the closest shelter, prayed and hoped for the best, a miracle even. She checks on him everyday to see if there are any updates but so far no one has stepped in to claim or adopt Pluto. She also has tried to coax her husband to hopefully change his mind and he said no.

Truthfully, I dont blame my friend's husband. If my husband would have had his way, the new cat we adopted last february wont be here anymore with us either.

Just to share, a  few months ago, our new cat, Cheesecake, attacked our older cat Thumper. The squabble got ugly or rather bloody when my husband intervened and Cheesecake attacked him instead. My husband decided, the cat had to go. I cried but I knew he was right. So the next day instead of bringing the cat to the shelter, I just let him stroll out of the door. He actually ran quickly out of the apartment like he hated living with us. I was broken because I have grown to lovethe new cat but I knew we just couldnt have that kind of arrangement. We live in a shoebox apartment with 2 cats already and we cant deal with this kind of hostility or bloody drama on a daily basis.

I didnt want to surrender Cheesecake to the shelter because I knew if I did that, they will put him down if noone claimed him. NYC ACC has a reputation for being a high kill shelter and that is exactly why i adopted Cheesecake in the first place. I figured it is best to let him out to the surroundings where we got him  where he has survived for a number of years. I know it doesnt sound right but when we found him on that winter night, i have always wondered how he survived all those years out there by himself.

When I opened the door an hour later to leave for work, guess who decided to waltz back in. Cheesecake. And we let him back in alright, observed him for a couple of days and weird enough he acts nonchalant about it like nothing  happened. We havent had any incidents after that. We try as much as possible to prevent fighting between our 3 cats. Thank God also so far it has been a peaceful coexistence . But God forbid if it does happen again, we will also have to resort to the option of rehoming. I pray it doesnt come to that though.

I understand why it is a dilemma for my friend and her husband to reconsider adopting Pluto. Evidently also, the size of the animals in the picture is an issue. Cheesecake is 2-3lbs heavier and slightly bigger than my other cats. Pluto on the other hand is 20lbs and the older dog is 5lbs. they are just avoiding a catastrophe from happening. Sadly the reality is that you cannot just part with a pet you have had longer. It is just the way it is.

Right now we hope and pray Pluto finds a foster or rescue group while he is in the process of finding a more permanent home.

If there is a potential adopter that already has a dog, we do hope that other dog wouldn't mind having a new friend around.

For now we are crossing our fingers, praying that someone will give Pluto a chance.  Because just like the rest of us, he simply wants someone to love him, because he has a lot of that to give.

Please click this link if you or anyone you know is interested in giving this poor dog a chance. Enter the intake animal ID number A4746111 when looking through the view our animals tab.

Pluto is currently at the LA COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL SHELTER.  

On a side note, I want to share that I adopted 3 cats from Singapore. I have moved them from that country to the Philippines and now to the United States. It wasn't easy but love makes you do crazy and almost impossible things. People I knew dissuaded me, and thought i was insane saying how costly it is going to be. But I did it,  I moved 3 stray cats across the globe. Even with the limited resources I had then and even now, I have managed to give them (and continue to do so) a wonderful life and I don't regret a single day that I gave them the chance. I know what its like to be given a chance too. and i know that these pets are capable of giving unconditional love and are as vulnerable as we humans are.

Who knows one day you might say the same thing about Pluto.

Thank you for reading this post and I hope you share it too.