Tuesday, December 15, 2009

A Shelter Dog's Christmas Poem

I haven't seen many festive posts out there ... not sure why. Last year the blogs were brimming with them. I didn't post this last year, but I have decided to post it this year. Why? I don't know. Maybe because there are so many blogs that aren't posting these this year. Please note that I don't mean to choose one Religion over another (since it does say "Christmas"), but that I want to ensure the shelter dog's plight is well-known. Even during the busy holiday season.



A Shelter Dog's Christmas Poem

‘Tis the night before Christmas and all through the town,
every shelter is full - we are lost but not found,
Our numbers are hung on our kennels so bare,
we hope every minute that someone will care,
They'll come to adopt us and give us the call,"
Come here, Max and Sparkie - come fetch your new ball!!
But now we sit here and think of the days..
We were treated so fondly - we had cute, baby ways,
Once we were little, then we grew and we grew;
now we're no longer young and we're no longer new.
So out the back door we were thrown like the trash,
they reacted so quickly - why were they so rash?
We "jump on the children:,"don't come when they call",
we "bark when they leave us", climb over the wall.
We should have been neutered,
we should have been spayed,
now we suffer the consequence of the errors THEY made.
If only they'd trained us, if only we knew...
we'd have done what they asked us and worshiped them, too.
We were left in the backyard, or worse -let to roam;
now we're tired and lonely and out of a home.
They dropped us off here and they kissed us good-bye..."
Maybe someone else will give you a try."
So now here we are, all confused and alone...
in a shelter with others, who long for a home.
The kind workers come through with a meal and a pat,
with so many to care for, they can't stay to chat,
They move to the next kennel,giving each of us cheer...
we know that they wonder how long we'll be here.
We lay down to sleep and sweet dreams fill our heads..
of a home filled with love and our own cozy beds.
Then we wake to see sad eyes, brimming with tears;
our friends filled with emptiness, worry, and fear.
If you can't adopt us and there's no room at the Inn;
could you help with the bills and fill our food bin?
We count on your kindness each day of the year;
can you give more than hope to everyone here?
Please make a donation to pay for the heat...
and help get us something special to eat.
The shelter that cares for us wants us to live,
and more of us will, if more people will give.

~Author Unknown~

6 comments:

Rich Sands said...

Great Poem! I hope you don't mind too much if I re-publish it for my X-mas eve post. My site is in "hibernation" until the new year, so I'm not posting any original material, but I think my readers will like that poem as much as I did. By the way, for the next couple of weeks, and probably beyond, I'm accepting guest posts. If you have any personal dog story you'd like to tell on my site, The Den of the Dogman (scottsdaledogman.blogspot.com) please send it my way. I'd love to post it. By the way, I'm a big fan of your site.

Cyndi and Stumpy said...

Excellent!!! I hadn't seen that one before...

I think Christmas is a real struggle for many this year... Maybe it wil hlep people to realize it ain't about the gifts!

Haley said...

Very touching! I'd like to re-post it too, I've posted one similar in the past called "How Could You?".

GoLightly said...

Thanks for the reminder.

and a beautiful, strike that, tragic, poem.

BeadedTail said...

Wonderful, but sad, poem! Knowing so many animals are in shelters breaks my heart and I wish I could adopt them all. I hope many get a loving furever home for Christmas and for always.

DogsDeserveFreedom said...

Please do crosspost this if you're interested. The more people who know, the better.

DogsDeserveFreedom