Lydia- The Pet Communicator (Wattys13- Finalist!)

Chapter 37

Lydia- The Pet Communicator

Chapter 37

For a stray dog, nobody knows where he came from. Nobody knows what his breed is. Nobody knows whether he is sterilized or not. People have just given him an unusual name. But, one thing everybody knows that he is a nuisance.

He is a nuisance because he barks late at night and early in the morning. He is a nuisance because he sneaks inside the warm houses of people the moment he gets a chance. He is a nuisance because he steals food and he keeps strangers away from his street. He is a nuisance because he wants to be loved.

Sometimes we go to an extent that we forget they are also a form of life, they also need shelter to survive and they also need love. People who want to keep dogs go for an expensive purebred and forget the fact that there are homeless loyal dogs down the street that has to search for food every single day of their existence.

Stray dogs are the most suffering animals today. They are picked up by dog catchers using sharp tools and heavy rods which could even cause them severe injury. They get separated from their loved ones, and after taking them to the dog pound, they meet tortures. The caretakers starve them to death and poison them because of over filling or lack of space. They don’t vaccinate them too. Not to forget, they keep all the funds and donations in their pockets. You can only find some good pounds, majority don’t give a shit about the poor creatures. Very sad, but it’s a bitter truth.

Drake was snapping his fingers at me, when I got into my senses. “What?” I asked him surprisingly.

“We reached the dog pound Lydia. You haven’t said a word all the way and something seems to be bothering you. Is anything wrong?” I shook my head in refusal and looked at the exterior of the dog pound. The building looked like some haunted house. It had a big broken sign board above its main gate, written -Cambridge Dog Care. I gulped hard with fright.

The two dogs who brought us here barked, “Hurry! The gate is open, luckily.”

We got out of the car quickly and tiptoed inside the pound. The gate keeper was fast asleep. He was literally drooling in his sleep with loud snores. Eric started giggling when he saw the gate keeper and Drake glared at Eric heatedly. So, Eric walked away tight lipped.

When we entered, we saw no dog catchers or the care takers in the room. There were so many dogs locked inside the pound, all were barking with their own sad stories. I couldn’t listen to all at a time and it really bothered me.

The dogs who came with us, took us to his friend. It was a brown Labrador, just like Lucky and Garcon. It really touched my heart. A tear escaped my eye when I realized that I didn’t have the key to open all the locked dogs. All of them were so hopeless and upset. Not only that, they were also squeezed in with other dogs in small cages.

“Drake, I don’t know how to unlock these poor dogs. We need the keys to open their cages.”

“Wait here, Eric and I will go get the keys from somewhere.” Drake assured me.

In a little while, I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned to look back, there was a care taker in his uniform. He was all grouchy and repulsive. He spoke harshly, “What are you doing here in beautiful red dress? Partying with the dogs tonight?” I felt like punching on his nose, but my eyes fell on the keys which were hanging out of his jeans’ pocket. In no doubt, I got the keys to release the dogs out.

“No. I came here to meet someone like you. What are these keys for Mr.?” I asked purposely.

“To keep these stray dogs locked in and far from beautiful people like you.”