March 14, 2009

Last Fall I Found A Dog

Read Galatians 6:2

Last fall I found a dog.

Well, first I saw the dog, a small beagle, running across the street and dodging New York City traffic. Then I watched as it ran into the open doors of a restaurant until it was detained by a waiter and led back outside. Ma’am, is this your dog? I looked down at my dog and looked up at the waiter and shook my head. No, this is my dog. I pointed down next to me. There was silence from his end. I looked at the beagle as it stared back at me with longing eyes. But I’ll take it home and try to find its owner, I offered, before I knew what I was getting myself into. I just couldn’t resist those eyes.

So, I guess you could say the dog found me.

Now, this was not a particularly good day for me to be taking home a beagle. For one thing, home was a good 35 minute walk, and the beagle had no collar or leash. So, I picked it up. I had no choice. Another factor was the five hours of reading for school I had waiting for me when I got home. And when I did get back to my place – arms shaking, back aching, beagle crying – my three year old hyperactive dog thought that this was a scheduled playdate. This is when I realized that the older beagle that I found and my pug-beagle mix, did not mix. So, my dog was booked for the $60-a-night New York “doggie hotel” that I (read: my parents) really don’t care to splurge on all too often. And after calling five police precincts and being redirected five times, I learned something new that day: the New York City Police Department “does not deal with animals.” My last hope was to take the dog to the vet and see if it had a microchip so I could somehow locate the potential owner. There was a microchip, (thank you, God!) and an owner. But I would have to call the vet where the owner registered the dog the next morning, as they were closed that night. By the time I got back from the vet, I was tired, hungry, tattered and torn. Was this all worth it? Should I have left the dog for the waiter to deal with?

I woke up the next morning to the beagle nestled at my feet at the foot of the bed. I called the dog’s vet to get in touch with the owner, who called me back a few minutes later. Hi! I’m the owner of the beagle you found! I am so relieved. I can’t tell you how distraught I have been for the last 12 hours.

I met with the owner later that day to deliver her dog. She was beyond ecstatic, and eternally grateful. Luce (the beagle) was – as I guessed – twelve years old and her kidneys were failing. I don’t know if it’s the kidney medication she’s taking, or the fact that I just had a baby, but she has never run away like this before. I don’t know how much time I have left with her, so I don’t know what I would do if I lost her yesterday for good.
And just the day before, I had asked myself whether it was all worth the hassle…

In a social and economic climate where families struggle to put food on the table, millions are being laid off from work, and homes are in foreclosure, I realize that finding a dog on the street can hardly be called a problem. Rather, it was a blessing in disguise. I was able to reunite a woman with her dog. They had been a part of each other’s lives for 12 years. Wouldn’t I want someone to do the same for me? It’s not every day that we are able to give someone a gift like that. The chance to do so is a gift in itself.

So, maybe God’s gifts don’t always appear to us in conventional packages. They might even appear to us as a burden at first glance. But taking on the burden is sometimes the only way to get to the reward.

Beth Versical