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My husband and I are animal guardians to a dog named Romeo. He came into our lives when we least expected and we were more than unprepared for him. February of 2009, my husband and I still lived in a 5-½ apartment and we already had the 3 bunnies. We had said that when we would have a house we would have all the space necessary to give a dog a home.
Life surprised us by putting us in a situation we had to affront and then we discovered that we did not need a bigger apartment. Romeo showed us we had a big enough heart to save him. I got a frantic call from a friend. I could hear in her voice she was scared. She told me “ Please Lilly, he will kill Romeo! Please tell me he can stay with you.” I had no idea who Romeo was. At first I thought she was speaking of a person, and then I realized she was talking about a dog when she added, “ Romeo bit the nose of his daughter! He wants to kill Romeo!” After she calmed down, she explained to me that Romeo had bit a 3 year old and that owner had tried killing the dog. He failed in killing the dog because his wife pulled him away while he was choking Romeo.My husband and I talked about if for a few minutes and we came to the conclusion that if Romeo ended up in the SPCA there was no chance a dog so violent would survive. Called my friend back and told her to bring the dog over as soon as possible.
The owner decided to come with my friend to bring the dog. He wanted to make sure he would be in a “good” home. I expected to see a violent dog. A dog that you would see hate in his eyes. Instead, I received a dog that had been shaved to the skin with a razor just because the baby was allergic. Romeo came with no eyelashes. Romeo came to us with bruises, a big ear infection that you could smell it by not even getting close to his ear. Romeo came with his skin so pink and with marks of where he would bite himself till he bled cause he was allergic to something and his “family” did not bother to find out to what. No tag, just the record of the first shots all dogs get when they arrive to a pet shop, and full of distrust. The only thing that he came with was a little red ball that he seemed to adore. When I asked how come he had bit the baby, I got an amazing answer: it was because the baby had pulled either his ear or his tail.
As soon as I was alone with Romeo, he brought me his ball and left it by my feet. He was happy and wanted to play. From that day on I promised him I would do my best to give him a happy life. It wasn’t his fault that his past owners had no heart and no common sense. Romeo ended up with a huge vet bill and with a lot of behavior problems. He was vicious and very scary; it has taken me more than a year to get him to trust people and to not attack them. It may sound like a cliché, but it is true, only love and patience changed him.
Romeo has been a blessing in my life. I can’t stand the thought of the possibility of me saying “no” because I did not have enough space and then he could have died. Since then I have thought about so many animals that have been abandoned because they ended up with unfit and irresponsible owners. It sickens me just to think that animals are being killed just because they were not lucky to have a second chance in life. Cruelty to animals has been on the rise. People are becoming aware of the atrocities that animals suffer and that they need to be rescued. Great human beings have taken upon themselves to rescue animals and use their human voice for them. No living creature deserves to endure pain.
Therefore, I commit myself to blogging and informing about people that give a hand for a paw in need and also for when a paw needs a hand to pull through. I hope that all dog lovers find this blog informative and controversial. Comments and suggestions will be more than welcomed. What I want is for people to start a commotion in order to get into motion and accomplish a positive outcome for the good of dogs and all animals.
