Animals deserve chance to decent home

T his is one of those columns that will, ever so blatantly, encourage you to go out and make a difference-this time, in the life of an animal.

Shuster the dog is about to celebrate his first birthday. Shuster is the inseparable companion of my granddaughter who lives with us, Mikayla, age 8. Shuster is small, and obviously bright (having learned, in addition to his basics, tricks such as "fetch, roll over, speak," and working on "shake hands.") The key to his training success lies in the fact that he loves being part of a pack, which we humans call a family. Mikayla plans a birthday cake for him, and loves to sing to him.

Like many fine animals, Shuster is a rescue dog, brought home from Santa Fe last December as a Christmas present for Mikayla, who had lost her beloved Bonnie (a Westie, aged 12) in October.

Since age 14, I have never been without at least one dog or cat to share my world-usually, more than one. Among these animals, there have been four pure breds — a Lab, a German Shepherd, a Doberman and a Westie.

This is the important part; except for rescue fees, I never paid a dime for any of them. Only one, the Westie, was a present. All of the others were rescue animals.

The Lab, the Shepherd, and the Dobe came my way because they were females, born to breeders, who were too small to meet breed standards for breeding — each one weighed in at only 50 pounds.

I will not tell you what (some) breeders do to females too small to breed. Suffice it to say that Annie, Gretchen and Jezebel were saved from that fate.

Think about this, if you have no animal: Each animal deserves a chance to have a decent home. The type of animal you choose to rescue can be determined by a little self assessment. Shuster fits our lifetyle perfectly because we have a small yard, he is lively and can be the playmate of a little girl, and he had shown a marked ability to get along with other dogs, which we have.

If you are a senior adult who wonders if he or she has the energy to train a pup, that really doesn't let you out of the running. There are often older dogs, left for adoption for a variety of reasons, who have already had their basic training and are settled and quieter. Not all of them are "problem animals".

Cats are another option. Due to an allergy, I've not been, for many years, able to share a house with a cat. I have had a few, though, who were part of a looser relationship, stopping by to play, to eat, or just hang out, and making their homes in some other part of my property. Granted it's been just temporary, until I could find them a real home, but at least it provided for their needs until I could relocate them.

Save a life. Make a new friend. Adopt an animal.

Clyde Davis is a Presbyterian pastor and teacher at Clovis Christian High School. He can be contacted at:

[email protected]