A Good Memory

My assistant manager had brought her to work, just a little white puppy named Nala. She

was scared and whining in the back of the store,

there were so many unfamiliar faces. I went over

and tried to comfort her, to no avail because she

still was upset and scared. She put her little face

on my lap and looked up at me with big hazel

eyes and precise, little white eyelashes. Right

then and there I knew I had fallen in love with that precious puppy, and I wished that she was

mine.

She had another dog too, he was a big and bulky

bull dog. They behaved well together, but were

too much to handle at once. They preferred the

bull dog over her, so they offered to give her to

me.

I accepted her with great gratitude, and could not

be happier. The only problem at this point was

convincing my family to let me keep her. I kept

wondering if my assistant manager would be able

to keep her if we could not, or if she would be able

to find someone else to take her. The thought of

what could happen to her if she could not find a

home broke my heart. Studies show that around

2.7 million animals are killed because shelters

just do not have enough room to hold all of the

homeless animals. I could not handle the

thought of that precious white puppy out in the

world with no one to protect her.

It was midnight on a Friday, I got a text saying they were

on their way with Nala and all of her things. I got nervous,

my parents had not said yes yet. I could not imagine what

would happen to

her if we were not

able to keep her.

There are so many animals out there without homes, just

lost with no food or family. The neglect in the world for

animals is very high, so giving even just one animal a

home

helps. They arrived and I snuck outside to get her,

she was so small and perfect. I carried her inside

along with some food and a bed. I took a deep

breath and headed downstairs where my parents

were watching TV. I said “say hello to our new

little friend,” as they got up and came over to us. My dad took her from me without saying

anything, the suspense was killing me. But to my

surprise they instantly fell in love with her. In the

end things turned out perfectly, I got to keep her

and my family loved her just as much as I did.

Two

years,

and 70 pounds, later, she is just as perfect as she

was when I first saw her. She is happy and healthy,

with a family that loves and takes care of her. She is

also very spoiled, as all pets should be.

Owning Nala has made me realize, animals are just too good for us. Especially when

there are people out there that abuse

them. It is so sad to see a dog getting

punched in the face for not obeying

their owner, or to see those poor

animals that have been dumped into

the world and forgotten. There is

animal abuse going on all around us,

whether we notice it or not. Animals

either love us, or are scared of us, we

should not take advantage of their innocence. Studies show that the most abused animals are
dogs, cats, horses and livestock. Out of domestic violence, 71% of the victims state that their pets

were also abused. Things need to change, animals need to be protected.

Reference:

“11 Facts About Animal Homelessness.” DoSomething.org,

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-animal-homelessness​.

Carlton, Amber. “6 Things to Remember When You Have a Fearful Dog.” ​Dogster​, 30 Apr.

2019, https://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/dog-behavior-training-tips-fearful-dogs.

Fowler, Hayden. “Animal Cruelty Facts and Stats.” The Humane Society of the United States,

2019, ​https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/animal-cruelty-facts-and-stats​.

“Bulldog Dog Breed Information.” ​Vetstreet​, ​http://www.vetstreet.com/dogs/bulldog​.

“RealClearPolicy: Winter Neglect of Pets Is Part of a Broader Animal Cruelty Problem.”

American Humane​,

https://www.americanhumane.org/press-release/realclearpolicy-winter-neglect-of-pets-is-

part-of-a-broader-animal-cruelty-problem/​.

“Research and Statistics.” Lucy's Project, 9 July 2018,

https://lucysproject.com/articles-and-links/research-and-stats/.

“Shelter Statistics or Why the Odds of Finding Your Lost Pet at a Shelter Are Against You.” Pet

FBI, 24 Aug. 2015,

https://petfbi.org/shelter-statistics-or-why-the-odds-of-finding-your-lost-pet-at-a-shelter-a

re-against-you/.