www.houltonhumanesociety.org
Every once in a while I’ll take a walk down Park Street and somewhere in the general neighborhood get a glimpse of the most beautiful husky you would ever want to meet, and I just smile. My heart melts a little bit, and
I remember the story of these five little babies that came into the shelter, thin, starved, sick and scared right to death, full of fleas and just as pitiful as can be.
We called their Momma China and she was not a happy camper. Barely social, scared to death, she would not let any of the kennel staff near her. She was skin and bones but she didn’t seem to understand the concept of human contact. We assume she’d either been kenneled or tied outdoors most of her life. She wasn’t mean, there wasn’t one mean bone in her fragile body, she was just plain terrified.
Nobody could touch her, the staff would often sit outside her cage and just cry as they watched her tenderly nurse her babies. Day in and day out each of the staff would take turns sitting near her, talking to her, trying to feed her bones, encouraging her to eat, begging her to take some nourishment.
Her babies were draining her so the staff would set up a pen outside in the warm sun and give China a break, letting the babies play in their playpen while momma took a nap.
With time China got used to having the staff come near her, she let Luanne touch her front paws without any fear, these moment were as critical to the staff as they were to China, little moments, small successes, each day just a little bit better than the last.
As the weeks went by everybody noticed that China was changing, it was almost as if the life was draining out of her, her babies were growing, she knew they were going to survive and she just gave up. The vet was called in, all efforts were made to save her, but China’s will to live could not be helped with band aids and buckets of kibble. She gave her babies her last ounce of strength, she forced her life into them, she licked them clean, fed them, nurtured them, and then she gave up.
China didn’t make it to a new home, but all five of her babies did, one of which lives up the street from me. All five of these babies carry on in their mother’s memory, carrying her genes, her gentle nature, her beautiful eyes and face.
The one thing that these babies will never know is the fear and neglect that China knew. They will know a different life, the life that should have been China’s, the life that every dog should know.
Every single day there is a China who is brought to a shelter, emaciated, intimidated by the new surroundings, unloved and uncared for, and every single day there is a group of angels who swoop in on their angel wings and say, “there there China, come rest with us, we will take care of you now.”
Houlton Humane is blessed with angels, whose hearts go out to each and every animal that comes in and puts all the heart and soul they can muster into giving them what every animal deserves, love, affection, a good meal, a warm blanket and who go above and beyond to find the very best homes for each of them.
Many thanks to Luanne Tucker for the story of China — for reminding us of her days on this earth and her precious memory and for each and every one of you at the shelter, staff, volunteers, each of you, for the love you pour into these animals.
Cathy Davis is a longtime volunteer for the Houlton Humane Society. She can be reached at houltonanimalshelter@gmail.com or 532-2345.
