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| I woke up this morning on the tiniest sliver of the edge of my bed. I could hear Mabel mumble and sleepily stretch as she lay belly up, horizontally next to me, waiting for her pre-breakfast belly rubs. In the short time Mabel’s been with me, she’s shown me what a sensitive sweetheart she is, a snuggly social butterfly suddenly skittish at the sight of my sweet potatoes that have been on top of the microwave for a week. We have a long way to go for her to feel comfortable with leash walking. And, given that I ditched her crate two weeks ago and last week had to administer eye drops twice daily, nurse an allergy-scabbed-up ear, and rub wipes on her paws, I haven’t done much home-alone training aside from making her room the happiest, calmest place in my apartment for her. I hope she and I have all the time in the world for her to continue settling in and knowing and trusting that she’s safe and loved every second of every day. Who doesn’t have time are the countless animals in shelters nationwide. I know we’re all seeing and hearing about how every rescue is at capacity, but I never want to be desensitized to the broken system, to those beautiful souls who didn’t choose and don’t deserve to be unloved and unseen. So, may we all find time to do something today and tomorrow. Maybe we can’t foster or adopt, but we can offer to pick up food for our neighbor who does foster animals. Perhaps we can’t donate money, but we can share stories of homeless dogs. Who knows who we know and who may need a nudge to open their hearts and homes? Maybe we can’t walk dogs at our local shelter, but we can say thank you to the people who leave our shelters every night heartbroken and hopeless, then kiss their pets the next morning and walk back in to do it again the next day. I don’t know the answer, but I want to do more to be a part of the solution because the people in the ring, helping the helpless every moment, every day, need us now more than ever. |