I have been an avid animal lover for my entire life, despite never owning a pet other than a fish. My initial solution to this issue was to become a veterinarian; however, after passing out in a biology class when we were discussing getting shots, I realized that becoming a vet would not be the best idea for me or my health. Since then I have supplemented my need for animal interaction by playing with my friends' pets and socializing exclusively with pets at parties. This was a decent temporary solution, but I never got to connect with the animals that much. The experience was rather one dimensional.
On Valentine's Day of this year, I visited the Howell Mill campus of the Atlanta Humane Society. It was unlike any other animal experience that I have ever had, in all of the right ways. My boyfriend and I started in the cat room, where we looked around at all of the cats before deciding to play with Cupcake, a beautiful cat who had to be surrendered due to the family's allergies. She was incredibly soft and sweet like her name, and she was the perfect way to introduce me to the Atlanta Humane Society.
We then headed to the dog section, where we found Zoey, a beautiful white pit bull/terrier mix who had been in the shelter for a little over a month. As we read her description, we knew that we had found her for a reason. Zoey had been in and out of foster dog care for a large portion of her life, and found her way into the humane society after living on the streets with her homeless owner. She was regretfully surrendered by her owner after the humane society urged her owner to give Zoey up for her health and safety. She was a bit scarred around her ears and had some injuries on her back, which were likely causes for her prolonged stay at the humane society. It did not help that many people were hesitant to adopt a dog who had been owned by a homeless person, and she wasn't the "picture perfect" type of dog that gets adopted in a matter of days.
As the handler who came to move Zoey to the playroom for us passed the other employees, I heard several exclamations of "Is that Zoey?", because they were so excited that someone had chosen to go play with her. It brought tears to my eyes. We played with Zoey for about an hour before we had to leave the room so that someone else could use it. She was so full of love and excitement, and, if I was not a college student living in a dorm, I would have adopted her in a heartbeat. Zoey's energy was so pure and loving, and it broke my heart to have to leave her there. Yet we still left happy, because we realized that we had probably made her happier. She seemed to not have gotten played with that much, and we knew that she was in safe hands. The Atlanta Humane Society is a no-kill shelter.
Every few days, we would check the humane society's website to see if Zoey was still there. We were heartbroken every time that we returned and saw that she had still not been adopted. We were able to enjoy playing with other animals, but Zoey always sat in the back of our minds. We saw so many other dogs come and go, and yet Zoey still remained, day after day, despite the amount of energy and love that she had to give.
One of the other dogs that we met during this time was Willie, who was also a pit bull/terrier mix. There were several other people in the shelter that day, but as soon as I passed his pen, we immediately had a connection. He started jumping around and wagging his tail so much that his entire body moved with it. As I knelt down by the pen, he slid his paws underneath the door to try to get out, and he kept trying to lick me through the gaps in the pen. Anyone in my position would've been enthralled by him, but I was especially so because nearly every dog that I've played with has been more affectionate toward someone else and never shown as much interest in me. Whether it's due to my lack of experience with animals, or the dogs being able to see how desperate for their attention I am, it has always been extremely frustrating for me. I just want there to be a dog who loves me as much as everyone else. Willie was the first dog that I've felt such a mutual connection with, and it was beautiful.
Willie was adopted fairly quickly, but every time we checked on Zoey, she still hadn't been adopted. A few weeks later, we took another trip to the humane society, and Zoey had finally been adopted after about two months at the Atlanta Humane Society and an even longer time with a foster family. I got a few strange looks from people when I realized that she had been adopted because I was so happy that Zoey had finally found her forever home that I actually started crying a bit.
Zoey's situation is unfortunately not an uncommon one for pit bull breeds. Pit bulls are some of the most common dog breeds that are found in animal shelters, and are among the least adopted, largely due to society's stigma against pit bulls. They are labeled as dangerous and hard to control, despite them actually being highly affectionate dogs that are extremely eager to please their owners. This contributes to pit bulls being the most commonly euthanized dogs at shelters with a maximum holding time. Despite the Atlanta Humane Society being a no-kill shelter, society's prejudice toward pit bulls is still evident, with 18 out of the 49 dogs being some kind of pit bull mix, and most of the "underdogs"—dogs who have been at the shelter for over 30 days—being pit bulls. Fortunately, these underdogs, such as Zoey, still have a chance to find a forever home, despite the barriers that they face in getting adopted when compared to other shelter dogs. I am beyond relived that Zoey had been placed in a no-kill shelter, because had she been at a shelter that euthanizes animals at the 30 day mark, she wouldn't have made it, and it's so devastating that there are shelters that euthanize absolutely wonderful animals who are capable of going to a good home.
That is one of the many reasons why going to the Atlanta Humane Society is so rewarding for me, especially with the knowledge that regardless of how long an animal is there, they will eventually be placed into a forever home. Getting to interact with these animals and develop a connection with them, even though I'm not able to adopt one, is such a wonderful aspect of my life. Playing with the cats and dogs there helps lower my anxiety, and I am able to form a lasting relationship with all of the animals that I meet there. Every visit to the humane society and every adoption that I see adds to this beautiful part of my life in such a unique manner that nothing else can match, because I can see so many animals that I fall in love with go from situations like living on the streets to being incredibly happy and loved in a forever home.
