When God Smiles....
Despite being scheduled for
euthanasia, Bella, the abandoned dog, expresses gratitude to the shelter
attendant whom she thought was named God, catching the attention of the
divine God above.
Photo by fatty corgi
Bella had a hunch that something was wrong and couldn’t shake it. Each time Ben and Jenny travelled, they dropped her in the dog hostel owned by Ben’s friend and on the same street where he lived. The couple walked her through the dog hostel every day, where she spent many nights throughout the year, as her owners, Ben and Jenny, travelled frequently.
Bella loved the hostel owner, Mic, during her temporary
stays.
She didn’t understand why this time they brought her to a
much bigger hostel, long away from their home. The place was so unfamiliar to
her. Using doggy language, she tried to convey her request to her owner, but
the couple was too occupied to listen.
The moment came for Ben and Jenny to say goodbye. Jenny
knelt in front of Bella and tousled her fur, “You’ve been such a good girl,
Bella. I’m going to miss you terribly. I am sorry.”
Bella licked her cheeks. But why Jenny was weeping? She felt
warm and salty liquid on her tongue. Surprise hit her. She raised her head and looked
again. Bella had never seen Jenny weeping while going on a trip. Sure,
something has happened. She couldn’t shake off the bad feelings that her gut
was giving her, even though everything appeared to be normal.
Ben also kneeled down in front of her and said, “I’m sorry,
but you are a good girl. We both are leaving you in God’s hand.”
Bella wagged her tail. That means the hostel owner’s name is
God.
Bella wanted to say, don’t worry. Enjoy your trip and don’t
cry for me. I will do well here. After all, there are so many dogs here. She
would have a pleasant time and make new friends.
Casting a glance around, she could feel the eyes of the
other dogs on her as she entered the space, their curiosity piqued.
As soon as Ben and Jenny left, she came to the group and
said, “Hello friends, my name is Bella. The couple who were with me are my
owners. They are so loving people.”
Nobody answered.
“Hello, I am Bella. I am a new friend to all of you. We’ll
have a blast, as long as our owners don’t return to take us away.”
“Our owners will never come to take us back home. We are all
homeless. Abandoned.” One dog said, his voice was heavy.
These are all stupid dogs. My owner is different. Not
like the owners of these dogs. Bella found out a quiet corner and lied on
the floor. She had travelled hours from home to reach this place. Her stay was
temporary until Ben and Jenny returned from their vacation, so she intended to
enjoy it. She wondered why Jenny said the word sorry. She understood the
word very well. Every time there was a delay in giving her food or taking her
for a walk, Ben and Jenny used this word without fail.
The words “You will enjoy your stay here” echoed in her mind
as they left her at Mic’s hostel in the past. Jenny would say, “Make new
friends, my girl.”
Bella understood this. “I wish she could find a family that
loves and cares for her,” Jenny had said to Ben in the car. Ben was behind the wheel,
and he placed his arm on Jenny’s shoulder when she wiped her tears. Bella hated
tears in Jenny’s eyes. Those dreaded words, after which Jenny began crying, still
sounded in her head. A gut feeling something was not okay constantly churned
inside her and didn’t allow to sleep.
The attendant came. “Hello boys and girls!” he had a smile
on his face.
This man must be the hostel owner and his name is God. Bella
thought, recollecting Ben’s parting remark he was leaving her in God’s hands.
“He is a nice man.” Bobby, the Labrador breed, whispered to
Bella. “Always takes care of all of us.”
Bella wagged her tail in gratitude as God served food
from the tins he had brought along. With a sad smile, he acknowledged the
gesture and walked over to the other dogs.
“What could have been wrong with him? Does he need some
friendly touch and kiss?” Bella longed to shower the man with kisses on his
face and neck, just like she did with her owners Jenny and Ben. However, the
man had already moved on to the other dogs, who eagerly waiting for their food.
She was famishing herself. She thought to savour her dinner first and then go
to the man for a bit of company. But after serving food to all, God left
the premises.
“I think this man’s name is God,” she asked Bobby,
the only dog who had introduced himself and she thought he was a friend.
“I don’t know. Nobody knows his name.” Bobby’s answer was
cold.
For the first time, Bella couldn’t sleep well. She had got
even a better bed in the hostel compared to what Ben and Jenny provided. But the
surrounding atmosphere was tense.
The next morning.
Bella’s sense of time was unique. She knew it’s early
morning when Ben woke up and took her for a walk in the locality. The big round
clock on the wall of his lounge room chimed ding, ding, ding, ding and ding.
No one came to take the dogs for the walk. Nothing unusual
for Bella. The hostel was unlike any other she had seen before, with over a
hundred dogs running around and a bustling crowd. It was evident that the
hostel was struggling to manage the large number of dogs with very few staff
members.
Being a well-trained dog, she walked to the far end of the
expansive backyard to relieve herself. The activity seemed popular, as many
others were doing the same. She longed for the days when Jenny or Ben would
follow her, holding her leash and picking up her poo in a plastic bag.
Bella didn’t expect her food to arrive the exact time she
gets at home. In fact, it was before that. The same attendant, God, came
to serve food to them all. And then came a van. “Meet our two longest
residents,” said the attendant, presenting two dogs for them to see. His eyes
pooled. They were quickly led out of the room by the two men, the sound of
jangling leashes echoing behind them. The attendant kneeled down before them
and said, “I am sorry, I didn’t want this. But nobody came to adopt you. I am
not in a position to hold any more. Forgive me if you can.”
“Next might be my turn if nobody comes to adopt me.” Bobby sobbed,
standing near Bella.
Looking at Bobby, she felt fear rise inside her as she asked
herself, “Why are we dogs never given a choice in what we do?”
It only took a day for Bella to gain clarity. In this place,
you’ll find dogs that have been left behind by their owners. The centre invites
people to adopt the homeless dogs. Once the facility reaches its animal
capacity, the longest resident is selected for euthanasia.
She didn’t want to die like every other dog in the centre.
The shelter experienced a brief respite from new arrivals,
and there were no heart-wrenching goodbyes due to euthanasia for a few days. The
dogs, including Bella, were left to wonder if they would ever leave that place,
now that the rules seemed to have shifted.
Bella missed Jenny and Ben. And her regular morning and
evening walk with them. But she got used to the new surroundings. The
attendant, whose name nobody knew, came regularly to feed them. Bella had no
way of knowing his name, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he might be God. Her
tail would wag gratefully to thank him.
The man never came to ruffle her head, nor anyone else’s. She
found a reason. With so many dogs to care for, he struggled to find time to
show each one individual attention. She guessed the man must be a nice person
who is housing all the homeless dogs and putting them for adoption.
In the week after she came to the centre, only two dogs
could get new homes, but five abandoned dogs came to the facility. Bella didn’t
know what her future held, but seeing the facility attendant always brought a
glimmer of hope, and she silently thanked the heavens.
Her faith took a big shake when Bobby left the facility to
face euthanasia. When taken for adoption, the dogs can sense it. The sound of
the van approaching makes them all weep together.
When Bobby’s time was over, Bella’s tears ceased, knowing
that her own final day was approaching. Chances of her getting a home were slim
now that she had spent many nights there. She didn’t blame anybody, if she had
only this much life, then why blame anyone?
Whenever the man she had named God came around, she
greeted him with a wagging tail.
She had barely recovered from the previous day’s ordeal when
the dreaded van appeared again the very next morning. Bella stopped eating and
stood still. Attendant of the centre, God was standing there, his eyes
pooling. Before the men put a leash around her neck, God knelt beside
her and whispered, “I’m sorry, I tried my best but failed to find a home for
you.” He used to say this to each dog taken away from there.
Bella thanked the man from her heart. He gave her a roof for
so many nights and deserved thanks, anyway. “Thanks God.” She wagged her
tail, lifting her head to him.
She was on her way out of the center when a couple barged
in, creating chaos in the entrance.
“Oh, she is so lovely!” the woman said to her man. “Can we
take her home?”
In about a moment, the two men stopped. “You’re such a lucky
dog,” one of them smiled, “You don’t deserve to be put down. You already got a
new home.”
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