Rescue #54 - Sweetie, originally uploaded by Aldon.

The young pup romped along with other young strays weaving in and out of the silent procession of venerable old dogs and cats. In the distance was a magnificent edifice. It was a gleaming bridge of every color. Sadie had heard that on the other side of this rainbow bridge was a land where humans were always kind and there was always enough food to eat.

After her life on the streets of Hartford, she longed for such a place. Yet one of the wise old dogs pulled her aside. “It is not your time yet,” he said. “There are kind humans on this side of the rainbow bridge that will care for you and make sure you are well fed.”

Sadie didn’t believe it. More often than not, humans threw sticks and stones at her as they chased her away from the few garbage cans where she could find any food. “You have an important mission,” the old guard continued. “You must help humans understand the joy of saving and caring for your fellow dogs.”

At the steps of the rainbow bridge, Sadie paused. She smelled the scent of so many great dogs that had gone before. She heard voices talking about home, saying the words “forever”. She marked the corner of the bridge as the voices became louder.

Then, she awoke. She was in a cage in a new kennel. The thin blanket and her even thinner skin provided little comfort for her weary aching bones. Two new humans had entered the kennel and the other dogs were all barking, “Take ME to a forever home! Take Me! Take Me!”

Two weeks ago, she had been captured by a human in Hartford and taken to the pound. She had been there ten days; as long as any pup ever had been known to stay at the Hartford pound. She had no idea how close she had come to being forced across the rainbow bridge. Then, a male human came to the pound and picked her up. He was a kind man, and although she was excited about sitting in the front seat of a car and catching many new scents as she stuck her nose out of the passenger side window, she soon fell asleep with her head on his lap.

The pound had not been a bad place. Sure, she did not get as much attention as she craved. There was no human pups to take her romping in the fields, but for the first time in her life she had had a decent meal ten days in a row. Could this kind man be taking her to her forever home?

She was disappointed when he left her at a kennel. It was small and the humans there were very kind. The other dogs said that this was a place where people came to take you to your forever home and you could stay for longer than ten days if you had to.

The two new humans, a grown male with hair on his muzzle and a young female pup walked past the dogs that had been waiting so long at the kennel and came to Sadie’s cage. They talked with a human that had been at the kennel all day and had fed Sadie earlier in the day. They put a collar on Sadie and walked her outside on a leash. The humans seemed kind, but cautious. Would these be the humans that would take her to her forever home?

They lead her to their car. It smelled wonderful; the smell of food that young human pups often spill in their cars or on the floors of their homes. Sadie managed to score a few crumbs here and there before settling into the passenger seat. Again, her nose worked overtime as the car started rolling and she encountered a new set of smells.

The car rolled and rolled and rolled. Soon Sadie was asleep. At times she awoke, was lead out of the car where she sniffed around for a little bit before the humans got back in the car and resumed the trip. The human pup spoke kind words to Sadie and told her to dream of a home more beautiful that she ever imagined. Sadie’s dream of the rainbow bridge came back to her, as did the words of the wise old dog. Yes, there were kind humans in the world, and Sadie wondered where this adventure would take her.

After what seemed like forever, they stopped again. This time they met another human, a young female, who put a new collar and leash on her. Again, Sadie was in a car with a kind human. Again, she sniffed at the air and then fell back a sleep.

When the car stopped the next time, the human lead Sadie out of the car. They were in a land with more trees than Sadie had ever seen. The trees were not all marked or surrounded by trash and metal. The smells were wonderful and the human walked for a long time with Sadie.

Sadie felt the stress of living on the streets of Hartford disappear. She felt the stress of long car rides fade. Yes, the car rides were fun, but they were also stressful, since Sadie had no idea where they lead, and they always seemed to end up somewhere different. Her dream about the rainbow bridge came back to her. Perhaps the wise old dog was right. Perhaps she was on an important mission to help humans understand how to be kinder to dogs.

After the wonderful romp in the woods, she was lead back to the car, and this time went for a short ride where she met another kind human. The house had all the smells of a kennel, as if many dogs had come and gone. She was given a wonderful dinner, a great place to sleep and more sweet attention that she had ever been given by a human. Yes, this was the way life should be.

Note from the human with the hairy muzzle: This is my fanciful recounting of the story of rescue #54 whom my daughter and I called Sweetie as we took her from the Sadie Mae Foundation kennel in Bolton, CT up to Maine where another friend took her to a foster home.

Note: Please vote for Rescue #55, Sweetie, Sadie, or whatever her forever family ends up calling her in the Cutest Dog Ever Contest.