Journals > Shelter Makeover > View Entry

I saw this past weekend how the MaxFund volunteers scrambled to find a "manger" for that Moma Shepherd and her four three-week-old puppies. All of you were so concerned and so creative with your ideas. In the end the precious family ended up with a volunteer in a foster home. I cannot imagine another shelter turning her and her brood away because of "food aggression." She has puppies! Of course, she is trying to get every bit of food she can to save her babies! I loved seeing the pictures of the obviously happy family. What a nice ending and beautiful beginning...

I know that MaxFund is widely respected. I live in a southern suburb of Denver, quite a long distance from MaxFund. When I would ask to post flyers to support MaxFund's efforts on Zootoo, I would get the response, "Oh, we don't post community-related items." When they would see it was for MaxFund, it was a completely different tune. "Oh, wait! It's for MaxFund! We can post this."

Cassie loves hugs and cuddling. She has come a long way.

Did you happen to see "My Boy Jack" on Masterpiece Theatre? It was about Kipling's son who was killed early on in WWI. The public had only one clue to Kipling's agony--a famous eulogy entitled "My Boy Jack," which is extremely moving. After losing my daughter, I found comfort in reading the words of other parents who had lost their children: Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Victor Hugo, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John Walsh, William Faulkner, Paul Newman, and Robert Frost. Mark Twain wrote of losing his 29-year-old daughter, "They told me the first mourner to come was the dog. He came uninvited, and stood up on his hind legs and rested his fore paws upon the trestle, and took a last long look at the face that was so dear to him, then went his way as silently as he had come. He knows." Maybe my words about karma and Cassie will help someone out there.

No, I didn't see it, but even reading about it makes me cry. I can't imagine the pain of losing a child. Thanks so much for giving so much to Maxfund!

Mary Tyler Moore said a long time ago that she believed the animals here on earth are put here to be our angels. Sometimes when we go through hard times, there is nothing more soothing than someone who sits quietly next to us, who doesn't judge us, who lets us be ourselves. In many ways, animals are angels. They provide unconditional love and teach necessary life lessons.

I think I know what you mean about Hayley. After my daughter's death, I was urged to get a German Shepherd, based on its traits. Roz was instrumental in getting me though each day, and still is. I *had* to take care of her, I *had* to get out in the world again to take her for walks. I discovered right away that I could fool everyone else, but I could not fool her. Where would I be without my furry and feathery angels?

Maybe it's corny, but Blanche DuBois depended on the kindness of strangers. All of us are "strangers" to each other; we should be particularly mindful of not being so critical, of trying to be more understanding. You never know what someone else is going through or how much your kind words will mean to them. And a kind stranger can make all the difference in the world to a homeless animal, too. They certainly depend on the kindness of strangers.