Pound Dogs, March 20, 2023 455 words

I can’t write about family without mentioning our four legged members of the household.
I recall two pets growing up. A large long haired tabby cat named Fluffy. I have a photo of her perched on the side of the bathtub watching as I bathed. Unlike most felines, Fluffy loved to play in water. She would swat at the soap bubbles. A floating translucent globe bitten breaking it’s escape.
A rescue white American Eskimo Spitz, he was named Koke after he wouldn’t respond to his first name, Panda He would bark at UPS trucks. Jumping three feet in the air, he was intimidating behind a closed glass door. I thought he had a bad encounter with a driver in his youth. He was afraid of thunder storms. he would hide in the shower under the shower chair. This was a dark and quiet place to hide. John had a an English Setter named Junior. John he referred to him as his son. Junior was also afraid of thunder. He would lay at the edge of the living room carpet and look longing at John in his easy chair. Slowly, Junior would creep towards John and safety. He would end up in John’s lap.
John’s tells stories of the collection of mixed breed mutts that were kept when he lived in Detroit.
My father in law, worked as a heavy equipment operator for the city. He had a soft heart for the stray dogs that would beg from the workers. Bringing many of them home, to my mother in law’s chagrin. The pack included Puddles and Poo, two labradors with little common sense. Two black and tans named Big face and little face. Little face would issue one large woof to alert the household to a visitor then he would lay down. His work was through.
There was a beagle referred to as Mike. Having grown up in the city streets, he had a bit of an attitude. But the most aggressive of the pack was Rex, a scrawny German Shepard. He had a fierce growl that scared many of the neighbors. No one messed with Rex.
There were many other dogs but they moved on before they became a part of the family.
When I visit local animal shelters, I remember the kindness of one man who adopted dogs from the Detroit streets.

Homeless
by Carol Farnsworth
The city burned with turmoil.
Flames engulfed abandoned houses, leaving pets behind.
One man took pity, sharing his lunch with them.
They didn’t want to leave him.
He took them home to his inner city home.

They became the protecters of the home and family.
Isolating them from the burning world around then.

carolaspot@aol.com March 20, 2023