Rescued Dog

RESCUED DOG
>
> Once I was a lonely dog,
> Just looking for a home.
> I had no place to go,
> No one to call my own.
> I wandered up and down the street,
> In rain in heat and snow.
> I ate what ever I could find,
> I was always on the go.
>
> My skin would itch, my feet were sore,
> My body ached with pain.
> And no one stopped to give a pat
> Or a gently say my name.
> I never saw a loving glance,
> I was always on the run.
> For people thought that hurting me
> Was really lots of fun.
>
> And then one day I heard a voice
> So gentle, kind and sweet,
> And arms so soft reached down to me
> And took me off my feet.
> “No one again will hurt you”
> Was whispered in my ear.
> “You’ll have a home to call your own
> Where you will know no fear.”
>
> “You will be dry, you will be warm,
> You’ll have enough to eat”
> “And rest assured that when you sleep,
> Your dreams will all be sweet.”
> I was afraid I must admit,
> I’ve lived so long in fear.
> I can’t remember when I let
> A human come so near.
>
> And as she tended to my wounds
> And bathed and brushed my fur
> She told me bout the Rescue Group
> And what it meant to her.
> She said, “We are a circle,
> A line that never ends.”
> “And in the center there is YOU
> Protected by new friends.”
>
> “And all around you are
> The ones that check the pounds,
> And those that share their home
> After you’ve been found.”
> “And all the other folk
> Are searching near and far.
> To find the perfect home for you,
> Where you can be a star.”
>
> She said, “There is a family,
> That’s waiting patiently,
> And pretty soon we’ll find them,
> Just you wait and see.”
> “And then they’ll join our circle
> They’ll help to make it grow,
> So there’ll be room for more like you,
> Who have no place to go.”
>
> I waited very patiently,
> The days they came and went.
> Today’s the day I thought,
> My family will be sent.
> Then just when I began to think
> It wasn’t meant to be,
> There were people standing there
> Just gazing down at me.
>
> I knew them in a heartbeat,
> I could tell they felt it too.
> They said, “We have been waiting
> For a special dog like you.”
> Now every night I say a prayer
> To all the gods that be.
> “Thank you for the life I live
> And all you’ve given me.
>
> But most of all protect the dogs
> In the pound and on the street.
> And send a Rescue Person
> To lift them off their feet”
>
> --
> Jan Nickerson
> Gulf Coast Sheltie & Collie Rescue, Inc
> www.petfinder.com/shelters/FL384.html