Posts Tagged ‘pets’

What happens when you physically accost someone in front of a cop.

Posted: February 18, 2013 in Pets, Uncategorized
Tags: ,

It was so hot. Unbearably hot. August in Phoenix is not where you want to be without an air conditioner. We had just pulled into the parking lot and I was rushing towards the office building to get out of the heat. We had been in the Datsun pickup for over 2 hours with no air.

I was guzzling the water from the bottle and rushing ahead of my boyfriend. It was the summer between my Junior and Senior year in High School and we had taken off for a week to visit his Mom.

When I turned to look back at him, a movement caught my eye. I thought I might be getting a bit delusional from the heat. I wiped the sweat away from my eyes, squinted and looked again.

There was something moving around in a parked car.

I walked over and looked in.

It was a dog.

Locked in a car with the windows up.

The temperature outside was 115 degrees.

What I had seen was him struggling to get up. He had stuck his paw up and placed it on the glass. He didn’t have the strength to keep it there and he had fallen back onto the back seat.

I gasped and tried to open the car door. It was locked. I ran around the car and tried all the doors. None of them opened.

I began to panic.

The dog was not moving.

I spun around and looked for something to break the glass. I saw a large rock near the bushes and ran over to it. I picked it up and ran back to the car.

My boyfriend was staring at me.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

I said nothing and took the rock and smashed the window. I had to try 3 times before it shattered. By then my boyfriend had come over. He pulled me back.

“What the HELL do you think you’re doing?” he screamed.

“I have to get the dog out of here,” I said as I pushed him away. I opened the car door, grabbed the dog and pulled him out. He was barely breathing.

He stood there with his mouth open and looked at the glass on the ground. I ran over to some shade and laid the dog down. I didn’t know what to do so I started fanning him.

There was foam all over his mouth.

“We have to get out of here before someone sees,” he said as he came up behind me and grabbed me by the arm.

“Shut-up and bring me the water from the truck!” I yelled. I took my water bottle and poured it over the dog. I washed his muzzle. “Come on baby, please keep breathing,” I sobbed as I rubbed his fur. I ran my hands over his face and put my mouth to his and breathed in. I didn’t know what I was doing. His head flopped back. I pulled it back to me and tried again.

“WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE” he screamed.

He was worthless. I ran over to the truck and grabbed the water and poured it on the dog. I pushed on his chest and kept breathing into him.

His eyes fluttered.

He wasn’t dead but he had passed out.

“You put your mouth on him? That’s fucking gross! I’m never kissing you again,” he said.

I looked up. “You got that right,” I said and kept fanning him and talking to him. I sat down and cradled him in my lap and stroked his face. He was coming around.

I didn’t see the cop car arrive. I heard a woman screaming about her car being vandalized. Someone must have seen what I had done and called the cops.

I didn’t care. They could have called the entire force and I wouldn’t have stopped.

“Miss, you mind telling me what you’re doing?” the cop asked.

I looked up. I thought it was obvious but I guess not.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CAR?” a woman screamed.

I looked down at the dog and leaned over. I put my nose against his. He licked me. He wagged his tail for a moment and then closed his eyes again.

“I broke the window to get the dog out,” I said.

The cop walked over and kneeled in front of me. He looked at the dog and stroked his face. I looked up at him and then back down at the dog. He was breathing but not very well.

“We need to get him to a vet,” I said and began crying.

“I didn’t have anything to do with it. I swear! We were just walking and suddenly she is breaking the glass,” the soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend said.

The cop stood up and turned to the woman. “This is your car?” he asked. I laid the dog down and stood up. I was very interested in her answer. I looked back at him and then back at the woman. I began to walk towards her.

“You left your dog in the car in THIS heat?” I screamed.

“YOU RUINED MY CAR YOU CRAZY BITCH!” she yelled.

Suddenly I was lunging towards her. I was aiming for her eyes. I shoved her back. The next thing I knew, someone had grabbed me by the waist and picked me up. One moment my feet were on the ground and the next moment they weren’t. I was suspended in mid-air for a moment.

The cop had picked me up. He carried me away from her. He opened up the back door to his car. He put me back on the ground and told me to sit down and be quiet. I nodded.

“I promise I won’t go near her, but can I sit with the dog?” I asked.

“No. You stay here. I’ll take care of the dog,” he said.

He radioed for animal services and told them it was an emergency. He walked over to the woman and advised her to be quiet and he would take a full report. He then walked over to the dog, picked it up and gave him to me to hold.

Not once had the woman shown any concern towards her dog.

My soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend walked over towards me. I ignored him and petted the dog.

I knew I was in trouble but I didn’t care. I sat while the cop talked to the woman. I couldn’t hear them and I didn’t want to.

“Miss, can you please step out of the vehicle?” the cop asked. I looked up and he was looking down at me. The woman was with him.

I held onto the dog and got out. The cop stayed between the woman and I. As I walked by, he put the woman in the back of his patrol car. She began to yell at him and he ignored her as he slammed the door closed.

“What happens now?” I asked.

“We’ll wait until they get here. How is he doing?” he asked and stroked the dogs face. He opened his eyes and his tail wagged again for a moment. I was glad he was a small dog.

“He’s OK but not very responsive,” I said. I felt nauseous from the heat and heartbreak.

A few minutes later, animal control arrived. They gently took the dog from me and promised me they would take good care of him. The woman in the patrol car was still yelling but the windows were rolled up.

“I hope you didn’t leave the air on for her,” I said.

He chuckled. “Yes I did, but I didn’t want to.”

I sighed and looked down at the ground. “I guess now you want all my information,” I said.

“Nope,” he said and walked away. He got in his patrol car and drove off.

This was not the first time nor the last that I rescued an animal.

To be continued.

Smack down on a gang banger.

Posted: September 6, 2011 in Pets
Tags: , , , ,

Sometimes in life, you have to stand up for yourself and let the chips fall where they may. You have to speak out and not worry about the consequences. If you think about it, you might not do it.

I was walking my dog Maverick last year. It was twilight but a warm evening in the summer. Maverick was getting older and wasn’t feeling great, so I made sure to give him short walks. He and I both needed to get out of the house that night.

This is my Maverick:

We were just turning the corner on our street. I saw three men standing on the sidewalk ahead of us with a couple of dogs. Because Maverick liked to bark and have a tizzy fit anytime he saw another dog, I walked us into the street and figured we would get back on the sidewalk after we passed them.

As we were walking by, Maverick started to get excited, but I reined him in. The two dogs were smaller and could have been pit bulls or some similar mix. I personally love pit bulls and don’t buy all the crap that is said about them. But the guys standing there had the full “gang banger” look going on.

As we walked by, one of the dogs barked and we kept walking. As we passed and returned to the sidewalk, I heard one of the men start to yell at his dog to shut-up and then I heard the dog yelping. He was hitting his dog.

No, I don’t think so.

I froze. I was about four houses down from them, but it was a quiet night. I turned around and yelled back at the man to knock it off.

I was a bit surprised those words came out of my mouth, but that’s what happens when you speak before thinking.

“What did you say, bitch?” was the reply.

I froze but Maverick kept walking. I felt the leash tug for a moment. My heart was racing and it suddenly dawned on me what I had done. I wanted to just keep walking but the sounds of that dog crying and him yelling at it were still in my head. I thought about what would happen to the dog if I just walked away and I couldn’t do it. I looked down at Maverick and knew I would never let anyone harm a hair on him and that I would do whatever I could if someone tried.

The dog that was getting beaten was the same as Maverick to me. The love I felt for Maverick suddenly transferred over to him and I was not going to walk away.

I turned around.

“You heard me. Get your hands off that dog or I’ll come back there and make you do it,” I yelled back. Maverick was now looking up at me, worried. He knew I was upset and he was trying to figure out why. Because he was older and because I didn’t want him hurt, I tied him to a tree and told him I would be right back.

Just as I started to walk towards the men, one of them said “You can’t tell me what to do. It’s my dog.”

“That doesn’t matter, you idiot! You lay another hand on that dog and you’ll have to hit me too!”

“Oh really?” he said. I wasn’t bluffing. I meant it. I had made my decision and I was hoping that today wasn’t my day to die.

“I’ll tell you what do to do, when I want. You get your hands off of one of God’s creature or I’ll come over there and take your dog from you.  You understand me?” I yelled back. I had stopped walking towards them. My whole body was shaking and fear started to arrive again and I pushed it back. I had gone this far and wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew I could not back down.

There was silence. I tried not to think or worry about myself. I was more worried about Maverick.

“Sorry ma’am, you’re right,” he said.

What? Did I really hear that?  Did I really back down a gang banger or was this some insidious ploy to get me closer and then kill me?

“What did you say?” I yelled back. I was now three houses away from them. I started walking again. They weren’t moving and they looked so much taller and bigger than when I had first walked by. They turned towards me as I got nearer.

“I asked you a question. What did you say?” I asked as I came within twenty feet from them.

One man was kneeling down now, petting and stroking his dog. He was whispering in his ear. The other two men stood silently and watched. One of them knelt down and started to scratch the ear of the other dog, which began to wag his tail.

The man, who I think yelled at me, looked up, kissed his dog on his head and stood up. “I said you were right and I’m sorry I did that. It was wrong of me.”

All my anger and rage started to lift at that moment and I didn’t want it to. I wanted to stay angry at them. I was prepared to grab the dogs and run as fast as I could but I was not prepared for an apology. This threw me off.

I looked at them for a moment. My racing heart started to calm down but my body was shaking. I was prepared to get hurt to help the dogs but I didn’t expect this fight to be over so quickly.

“OK, then. You ever hit another one of God’s creatures again I’ll make sure you pay for it. Somehow.  Someway.” I said with no idea how I could ever back-up that statement, but I was way past the point of thinking.

“Yes ma’am,” was all he said. The other two men nodded their heads in agreement.

I looked down at the dogs. They were happy and healthy and showed no signs of abuse. I smiled at them, turned and walked away.

I untied Maverick and we began walking again. I walked past my house and went around the corner. As brave as I might have been, I didn’t want them to know where I lived in case they had a change of heart. Maverick and I laid low around the corner for a few minutes. We kept peeking around the bush to see if they had left yet. Once they did, we came back around and almost ran up the driveway and into the house.

Once behind my locked door, I thought about what I had done and what could have happened. I don’t know if I was brave or just plain stupid, but for once I was glad I hadn’t thought before I acted.

I made Maverick cuddle all night with me, which he hated but relented.

Don’t play chicken with me

Posted: July 14, 2011 in funny stories, Pets
Tags: ,

Sometimes in life, you have to stand up for yourself and let the chips fall where they may. You have to speak out and not worry about the consequences. If you think about it, you might not do it.

I was walking my dog Maverick last year. It was twilight but a warm evening in the summer. Maverick was getting older and wasn’t feeling great, so I made sure to give him short walks. He and I both needed to get out of the house that night.

We were just turning the corner on our street. I saw three men standing on the sidewalk ahead of us with a couple of dogs. Because Maverick liked to bark and have a tizzy fit anytime he saw another dog, I walked us into the street and figured we would get back on the sidewalk after we passed them.

As we were walking by, Maverick started to get excited, but I reined him in. The two dogs were smaller and could have been pit bulls or some similar mix. I personally love pit bulls and don’t buy all the crap that is said about them. But the guys standing there had the full “gang banger” look going on.

As we walked by, one of the dogs barked and we kept walking. As we passed and returned to the sidewalk, I heard one of the men start to yell at his dog to shut-up and then I heard the dog yelping. He was hitting his dog.

No, I don’t think so.

I froze. I was about four houses down from them, but it was a quiet night. I turned around and yelled back at the man to knock it off.

I was a bit surprised those words came out of my mouth, but that’s what happens when you speak before thinking.

“What did you say, bitch?” was the reply.

I froze but Maverick kept walking. I felt the leash tug for a moment. My heart was racing and it suddenly dawned on me what I had done. I wanted to just keep walking but the sounds of that dog crying and him yelling at it were still in my head. I thought about what would happen to the dog if I just walked away and I couldn’t do it. I looked down at Maverick and knew I would never let anyone harm a hair on him and that I would do whatever I could if someone tried.

The dog that was getting beaten was the same as Maverick to me. The love I felt for Maverick suddenly transferred over to him and I was not going to walk away.

I turned around.

“You heard me. Get your hands off that dog or I’ll come back there and make you do it,” I yelled back. Maverick was now looking up at me, worried. He knew I was upset and he was trying to figure out why. Because he was older and because I didn’t want him hurt, I tied him to a tree and told him I would be right back.

Just as I started to walk towards the men, one of them said “You can’t tell me what to do. It’s my dog.”

“That doesn’t matter, you idiot! You lay another hand on that dog and you’ll have to hit me too!”

“Oh really?” he said. I wasn’t bluffing. I meant it. I had made my decision and I was hoping that today wasn’t my day to die.

“I’ll tell you what  to do, when I want. You get your hands off of one of God’s creature or I’ll come over there and take your dog from you.  You understand me?” I yelled back. I had stopped walking towards them. My whole body was shaking and fear started to arrive again and I pushed it back. I had gone this far and wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew I could not back down.

There was silence. I tried not to think or worry about myself. I was more worried about Maverick.

“Sorry ma’am, you’re right,” he said.

What? Did I really hear that?  Did I really back down a gang -banger or was this some insidious ploy to get me closer and then kill me?

“What did you say?” I yelled back. I was now three houses away from them. I started walking again. They weren’t moving and they looked so much taller and bigger than when I had first walked by. They turned towards me as I got nearer.

“I asked you a question. What did you say?” I asked as I came within twenty feet from them.

One man was kneeling down now, petting and stroking his dog. He was whispering in his ear. The other two men stood silently and watched. One of them knelt down and started to scratch the ear of the other dog, which began to wag his tail.

The man, who I think yelled at me, looked up, kissed his dog on his head and stood up. “I said you were right and I’m sorry I did that. It was wrong of me.”

All my anger and rage started to lift at that moment and I didn’t want it to. I wanted to stay angry at them. I was prepared to grab the dogs and run as fast as I could but I was not prepared for an apology. This threw me off.

I looked at them for a moment. My racing heart started to calm down but my body was shaking. I was prepared to get hurt to help the dogs but I didn’t expect this fight to be over so quickly.

“OK, then. You ever hit another one of God’s creatures again I’ll make sure you pay for it. Somehow.  Someway.” I said with no idea how I could ever back-up that statement, but I was way past the point of thinking.

“Yes ma’am,” was all he said. The other two men nodded their heads in agreement.

I looked down at the dogs. They were happy and healthy and showed no signs of abuse. I smiled at them, turned and walked away.

I untied Maverick and we began walking again. I walked past my house and went around the corner. As brave as I might have been, I didn’t want them to know where I lived in case they had a change of heart. Maverick and I laid low around the corner for a few minutes. We kept peeking around the bush to see if they had left yet. Once they did, we came back around and almost ran up the driveway and into the house.

I may be crazy but I am not stupid!

Why I hate my cats

Posted: July 7, 2011 in Pets
Tags: , ,

I suppose using the word hate is a bit strong, but I must admit there are times when they just really piss me off.

I’ve never hurt them or struck them, but I have been close.

I adopted them about four years ago when I realized that one of my dogs was on his way out of this world and approaching doggie heaven. Good old Shadow was getting old and since he had been an abused dog that  had been rescued from a very horrible man, I never knew his age. Shadow was one of those dogs that no one seemed to want. No good reason for it. Just not loved by anyone.

Sometimes I think animals are higher on the food chain than humans.

And now, years later, he was old and I knew he didn’t have much time left. My other dog Maverick still had a few years to go and I knew he would need company when Shadow left us.

So, I brought the two kittens home to keep Maverick company when Shadow was gone.

This is how cute they were when I brought them home:

Since that time, I have had two pieces of furniture destroyed – a couch and a recliner – and a rug. Come to find out, since I’ve never had male cats, they apparently like to “spray” around the house and since they are indoor cats, my house needs an incredible amount of marking to keep things straight between them.

I have also learned to check my shoes for cat pee BEFORE putting them on. I learned this the hard way when I was sitting and working with a client. We were talking and I crossed my legs. He stopped talking for a moment.

“That’s  odd.”

“What’s odd?” I ask.

“Well,  I suddenly smell cat pee. Hmmm, that doesn’t make sense.”

I felt myself turn red as I realized that it was me that smelled like cat pee. I excused myself and ran down the hall to the bathroom, flung the door open and took off my shoes. I stood there actually smelling my shoes and got a very strange look from a woman who walked in while I was doing this.

Sure enough, there was cat pee all over the bottom of my shoe. I washed them off in the sink with soap and water and dried them and went back to my office. I said nothing and neither did he.

Now in the morning, when I am getting dressed, I first check the floor of my closet for any wet spots and make sure no one came in during the night and claimed my shoes as theirs.

Their names are Boots and Scout. Boots is a tuxedo cat and his brother Scout is pure black. We do have some interesting conversations, even if I don’t know what we are talking about.

As time went by and my frustration with them grew, I began to doubt my decision. I never entertained the idea of not keeping them for their entire lives; I just didn’t know what to do. I was embarrassed to have anyone over until I could spend an hour scrubbing walls, doors, floors and furniture. They had been fixed and had actually started to calm down as they grew older.

This was just a nagging problem in my head that rattled around once in a while.

Well, finally the day arrived to put Shadow down. I was not prepared for that piece of news when I had taken him to the vet. He had slowed down and was starting to cry when he got up and I thought he just need some medicine for his arthritis.

After many tests and endless questions, it came back that he had advanced cancer. I knew what I needed to do at that time even though I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. Shadow had not had an easy or fair start to his life, but I had damned well given him a wonderful middle and now it was time to end it.

I held him and talked to him and told him what was going to happen. I know he understood and as always when faced with a problem and pain, he wagged his tail and smiled. He believed that by doing that, it would set everything straight and right again.

I gave him a piece of my soul and took a piece of his as I said my goodbye and promised him that when we saw each other again, we would give them back. He agreed and he still has a piece of my soul.

As the days went by and as my grief came and went, I was leaving for work one morning and looked over at Maverick. He was the last dog left out of four and had never been alone. That was why I had gotten the cats – I didn’t want my dear friend to be alone without his brothers while I was at work.

I turned to look at him as I was closing the door and saw Boots and Scout curled up with him as I walked out the door.

It was at that exact moment that I knew I had made the right decision. Yes, they had been difficult to have as pets and I learned to be patient and kind in a world that tested that daily in me. Yes, they had destroyed some of my furniture and at times would wake me up in the middle of the night when they went on rampages. And sometimes for fun, they would walk all over me while I was trying to sleep and insist that I talk to them and it would take every ounce of discipline that I had not to pick them up and throw them off the bed an onto the hard wood floor.

But looking at them curled up with Maverick and Maverick licking them and not giving me a second thought as I left for the day, all my frustration dissipated and to this day, I am grateful for their company.

I lost Maverick three years after Shadow and I still have Boots and Scout. People will often ask if you are a dog person or a cat person. I personally never got the memo that I had to choose and I still haven’t received it. And if I were to receive it, I would toss it away as unimportant and silly.

I may say I hate them under my breath, but the truth is, I am grateful for their company and affection and their constant demand for my love and attention. Where else can I get that from another living creature? I haven’t found it yet except from all my pets that I have known my entire life.

Yeah, they truly are a pain in the neck for me and I will never admit that to them. Why let them have the upper hand at this stage of the game?

Besides, I can always buy new furniture.