Written by Humble; Transcribed by Anne Schmidt
Dear Friends of MEHS:
Hi everyone, my name is...wait, what is it again? Oh, that’s right, my name is Humble. Sorry, I had to think about that for a second. You’ll understand why I couldn’t remember at first in just a moment. Anyway, I’m new to the area. I just moved up here to the Metro East Humane Society (MEHS). Boy am I glad to be here. Let me tell you the story of how I got up here. It’s a story that is FAR too common, but the nice folks here at MEHS are trying to make it happen less often. So, here it goes...
You probably noticed from the accent, but I’m a Southerner. Born in Arkansas about 3 1⁄2 years ago to a guy that didn’t want me as a pet, and certainly didn’t want me as part of the family. I didn’t know what being petted felt like, didn’t know what it was like to lay on anything other than the ground, and didn’t know what it was like to play with toys. Honestly, I didn’t even have a name.
To my master, I was just dog #3.
I lived in an outdoor kennel and I had one purpose...to make money for my master. I produced litter after litter until I was unable to produce healthy sized litters anymore. When I could no longer produce enough puppies, I was dumped at a rural Arkansas pound. Looking back, it’s kind of sad, but things started to perk up. Most dogs like me end up getting dumped at the end of a country road or are killed in some gruesome way.
When I got to the pound, I didn’t really know what was going to happen to me. I was there for about 2 weeks, and life was way better than the cage at my old master’s house. The people at the pound gave me food and water on a regular basis and even talked to me. They gave me toys to play with, and a bed to lay on...but, then I made a mistake. I accidentally chewed up a toy that wasn’t a toy...it was a hat. Oops.
Well, in Arkansas, a hat is kind of a big deal. I didn’t know that, and really, I didn’t know the hat wasn’t a toy. It looked just like a toy to me, and it even smelled pretty good. Anyway, the people at the pound told me and a rescue group I had 48 hours to get out of the pound or else the animal control officer was going to shoot me.
Believe it or not, that’s where things ended up getting way better.
There are all these people that spend day and night trying to help dogs like me. There’s a network of volunteers that drive dogs around to get them to where they will have a chance at a better life. As soon as these folks found out what was going on, they started sharing my story around the internet. One of the MEHS supporters, Mary, saw my post and helped arrange to get me up here to Edwardsville.
Before I left to come up here, a nice lady took me to a local veterinary clinic to make sure I was healthy enough for the trip.
That’s when they named me Humble. The veterinarian was really nice and said my name was fitting. He said I was a good girl and didn’t need to always look guilty. That was the first time I’d ever heard that, so, I’m not sure if I can, but I’m working on it.
The next day, I spent all day in a car. And I mean ALL day. We drove all over and, we stopped every once in a while to drop animals off to groups of happy people. I was pretty surprised to see people happy; nothing against humans, but the only humans I saw my first few years always seemed mean.
Eventually, I arrived here to MEHS.
All of these humans were pretty sweet. They were smiling, petting me, rubbing my belly, and gave me hugs and ear scratches. They gave me a warm bed, a big bowl of food and LOTS of toys!!!
So, now I’m here in Edwardsville. Things are looking pretty great right now. I get to play with other dogs and go on car rides with my favorite volunteers. People keep telling me it’s going to get even better. They say that soon I will be spayed and completely vetted.
The staff tell me I’m a really good girl and that anyone would be lucky to adopt me, and that sometime soon I’ll have a forever family. Wow, a family! I never imagined that; I always thought I’d just be dog #3.
As we enter into the holiday season, please remember my friends at MEHS.
They were able to save hundreds of animals (myself included) this last year through their many lifesaving programs. None of this would have been made possible without the support from individuals like you! Of course, I’d love it if you stopped in to see me, but please don’t mind my accent. Oh, and if you could, bring me a hat.
With many kisses and tail wags,
Humble