What Does “Adoptable” Mean, Anyway?
~ By Rachel Seagrave
To me, adoptable is almost indefinable. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say, and so it goes with the animals we love. And not just in terms of their outer beauty. There is no denying that a kitten or a puppy will get you every time with the cuteness factor. But what really drops me to my knees is the love of an old pet.
My ancient poodle would easily have been euthanized by most. Her hair wasn’t curly like it should be and she only had a couple teeth left. Her eyes unseeing, her head was almost always turned in anticipation of hearing my voice – which she would answer with her shrill little bark. All of it I loved, and she me. But it took Poodle almost two years to trust me.
She weighed all of three pounds when I adopted her from the local shelter. She had a cracked rib, could barely walk, and was close to twenty years old. She bit me daily with her gums and flew into unfathomable rages—and yet through it all I loved her.
It started to break through to her. Sometimes, she would lick my arm endlessly in what I could only think was genuine happiness at being safe with me. Then, one day, she simply trusted me. She would wait for me to go to bed, barking her head off till I put her on my chest where sleep and safety took over. She was home. We both were.
All of us are different, and so are the animals that enter our life. At times we have the pet we always dreamed of (or so we think), and then we have a little soul that pulls us in another direction and teaches us something more about life.
Who can really say which animal is worth saving?
Check out our Adoptable Pets, or click on the “Adopt Us” link at the top of our Facebook page to see all of our adoptable pets.
