Giving pets a helping hand

Hope A. Smith
Published: June 5, 2008

What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a veterinarian. My love of animals, combined with growing up on a farm, fueled this desire. However, short-sightedness on my part prevented this. Having been in school for 12 years, I wasn’t sure about staying in for 10 more. Oh, hindsight is 20/20!

Don’t get me wrong — I love animals more than most people, but I could never be a vegetarian. With my belief in the fact that humans are carnivores and my having been raised on a beef farm, it’s just not in my psyche to be a vegetarian. But I do love animals and love to help them.

What inspired this week’s column? Actually, two separate rescues by my husband and me were the sources.

When the storms rolled in Saturday, we came off the lake and decided to catch the latest installment of “Indiana Jones” at the Fredericksburg movie theater. When we were pulling into the parking lot, a lady had gotten out of her car and was scurrying for something on the pavement.

My husband, chivalrous as he is, got out as well to see if she needed help. Lo and be-hold, there were four of the cutest ducklings you’d ever seen, separated from their mama in the pond, looking for a place to go. Between my husband and some other good Samaritans, they rounded up three of the four ducklings. Sadly, the fourth hopped down the storm drain before it was reached. The ducklings were reunited with their mama and “lived happily ever after.”

This past Monday, I went to my mom’s house to pick up my daughter. When I walked into the house, my daughter and mom were trying to retrieve something from the window wells outside. There were two baby bunnies in two separate window wells — they’d fallen in and couldn’t get out! As we tried to grasp one of them with the reacher, we realized they were too quick to grasp.

My daughter crawled in one of the window wells and eventually caught the first little fella (or gal). The mama rabbit was looking at us while this little one squealed. It was re-leased and found mama. We captured the other one, released it, and it promptly jumped back in! One more rescue, and we took it out where we thought the mama was. Again, they “lived happily ever after.”

Too often, we see and hear about animal cruelty cases. The show “Animal Precinct” that appears on Animal Planet is especially difficult for some of us to watch.

On a recent episode, the cases varied from illegally dyed chicks being taken from a pet store to abandoned puppies. It makes me physically sick to see people mistreat these creatures who have done nothing wrong. These pets — dogs, cats, horses, etc., ask for nothing but attention and love. A good friend of mine, Susan, sent me an e-mail titled, “A Pet’s Ten Commandments.” One of the commandments is, “Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.”

There are countless dog fighting rings that have been broken up on “Animal Precinct.” My only beef with this is that the folks responsible never get enough punishment for my satisfaction. Just like children, animals are inherently innocent. They have to be trained or mistreated to become mean.

The great people at Culpeper Animal Shelter are underappreciated, in my opinion. We have a friend that used to be an animal control officer there before starting his own business, and he rescued a Neopolitan Mastiff who was 60 pounds under weight. Yes, 60 pounds. After the grace period was up, our friend adopted him and named him “Vincent.” Vincent is now a happy and healthy 180 pounds and a love. Their seven-pound beagle, Maggie, lets Vincent know that it is her domain, and Vincent respects that.

Let your local animal shelter know how much you appreciate their hard work. Ask if you can volunteer or if they need donations. A lot of beautiful, loving animals need homes and attention. Even if you volunteer one day a week, just for a couple of hours, these folks, both of the two-legged and four-legged variety, will know you care.

Hope A. Smith is an independent columnist and resident of Orange County. Her column appears on Friday.
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