$\"Tom\"$ Why do I volunteer? Let me think. I’m just an ordinary guy. Nothing special about me. I just like dogs and have some extra time now since retirement.<\/p>\n

We had dogs growing up in rural Michigan. Mostly hunting dogs. A beagle named Gyp for rabbits and a couple of English Setters (Lady and Bandit) for pheasants, partridge, and the occasional woodcock or snipe. The smartest and most special dog I ever had, though, was a little black terrier\/scottie\/poodle mix that I found abandoned alongside the road when I was 10.<\/p>\n

We lived just outside a small town. Marion, Michigan. Population 800… then and now. One afternoon while riding my bicycle along the main road into town, I spotted a small black dog cowering in the bushes beside the road. Of course everyone in small towns knows everyone else… their kids, their business, and their dogs. So I knew right away he wasn’t a local.<\/p>\n

I rode by, and he growled at me. Fifty yards later and curious, I turned around and rode by again with the same result. Undeterred, I parked the bike a few yards down the road and walked cautiously back. He was all black, dirty, skinny, and scared. Just on a hunch, I called out, “Blackie, is that you?”<\/p>\n

He came bounding out of the bushes like his tail was on fire. Spinning around, jumping up and down on me, and trying to lick my face. A small hand-written note he had attached to his collar read. “My name is Blackie. Please give me a home.”<\/p>\n

About the Author
\nTom Rawson<\/strong>, Volunteer at Palo Alto Animal Services<\/em><\/div>\n
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