Lost Faith

     The first time I saw him, I didn't think too much of it.  Since I'm becoming the nosy little old lady in the big house, I don't miss much in the neighborhood and I figured he was just passing through.  The second time I saw him, I thought he might be lost.

     I put a post on the social media giant FB to see if someone knew who he belonged to.  The response I received nearly broke my heart.

     This neighborhood wanderer is a dog.  He's a large breed dog, a collie mix and he has been on the lam for over a year.  It seems he has been abandoned, but no one knew to whom he had belonged. After reviewing all the comments, I realized what I had been seeing on my daily walks with the ever so entertaining Runtly, made sense.

     We pass by an unoccupied house everyday.  At the back of this property is a bush that has a large hollowed out cavity at the base. Every time I have looked at it, I've always had the thought that some animal had to have made it.  Several of the comments supported this theory, along with the time frame, and I was amazed that I had not seen the dog before.

     A couple of weeks ago, Sister Lela came for a visit and she accompanied the ever so entertaining Runtly and myself on one of our many jaunts around the block.  As we approached the above mentioned property, we were chatting about the previous owner and looking around the house when we came across this dog.  He was backed into a small enclosed area with only one way out. Having already told Lela about the dog, she stood in front of the only way out and began talking gently to him.  The dog had no use for gentle words and uttered a low warning growl.  I'm standing there, telling her to get out of the way.  I reminded her that she was already down in the hip and if he bolted and knocked her down, it was going to be ugly.  She finally stepped back far enough and the dog made his get away.  I took Lela and Runtly home and told her she could not go on any more walks.

     The dog has since found another unoccupied place to live but he needs to be caught.  That is from where my next brilliant idea has hatched.  I'm going to try to capture this dog if I can find a live trap big enough to hold him.  Then I will need to find someone willing to rehabilitate him and to provide a good home.  Perhaps I should do the second part of my plan first, because I can not keep this dog.

     This dog has lost his faith in humanity, sometimes I think I understand why.