So, Is This Your New Dog?

Happy Dogs. Happy People. Best Job Ever. But...

Life doesn’t get much better than being a volunteer adoption counselor at Front Street, Sacramento’s city animal shelter. *

I show up a few minutes before the shelter opens, grab a list of available dogs and walk the kennels, greeting the dogs I already know and getting a feel for the new arrivals.

On the best days, I go from one “meet and greet” to another all afternoon, bringing dogs and potential adopters together in a small play yard. If all goes well, I deliver my closing line: “So, is this your new dog?”

I love it. I’d pay to get in (please don’t tell them). But sometimes, it breaks my heart.

Why? Because there’s always a mismatch between dogs and humans. Too many dogs, and too few people who want them.

That’s particularly true for larger, adult dogs — the shepherds, huskies and pit bull mixes that occupy most of the kennels.

Puppies go fast. Small dogs come and go so quickly, I call the small-dog kennels the drunk tank — they all seem to get bailed out in a few days.

But big dogs can wait weeks or even months for the right person to come along. Trouble is, some dogs can’t wait that long.

Even at its best — and the folks at Front Street do their very best and then some — life in a shelter is stressful for dogs. Imagine being jailed in a foreign country where you don’t have a clue why you were arrested, don’t know anyone and don’t speak the language.

Terrified at the thought? Yeah, sometimes the dogs are too.

Here’s my farfetched notion about how to help:

• Find dogs being overlooked at the shelter.

• Bring them home as a foster dog for some R&R and training.

• Help them find permanent homes.

This newsletter is my attempt to keep this effort of mine on track. I’ve decided to call it Second Chance Charlies, after my last shelter dog, who died last fall.

It won’t change the world. But it might mean the world for a dog or two.

*The views expressed here are entirely my own. I do not represent or speak for the Front Street Animal Shelter or the City of Sacramento.