The Zoo is Closed

That's what I told my kids two days ago. "Don't even think about getting any more animals."

Just call my wife and I Tootsie Roll and Blow Pop, because we're SUCKERS. My next door neighbor's mom and stepdad bred pugs and Boston terriers as a small business over the last several years. He is now dying of liver disease, and she isn't in the best of health. Moreover, the number of animals they had were up, because she didn't have the time or inclination to sell any animals. His kids got mad at her, and called the Humane Society on her. They told her that she was violating the puppy mill laws for the state, and she needed to either send some dogs to new homes, or that they would do it for her. Wednesday, the Humane Society called her back and said "It's time, you can keep 3 dogs and the pups one has. We'll be there at 4PM." Our neighbor scrambled to place the rest, since her mother had been insisting on selling the dogs, not giving them away.

At 1PM, my wife informs me that we are now the "foster parents" for a 6 month old Boston terrier pup that would have otherwise ended up at the pound. I reminded everyone that we'd agreed that the zoo was closed. I reminded everyone that we had more animals than we knew what to do with already. They all nodded and agreed that I'd said that, but he was going to go to the pound. And then Ug showed up.

He is an underfed little cage-bound pug-nosed pup that proves the "he's so ugly he's cute" adage. He doesn't know how to play yet, because he spend almost all of his life in a cage, and when he got out he was with other "cage-bound" dogs that didn't know how to behave out of a cage. He is still learning housebreaking, but I think he's going to catch on pretty quickly (our older dog seems to be training him). He lasted 1 night in his kennel, and now he already has to be under our covers to sleep. I'm having insomnia right now for getting up and taking both animals for a potty trip at 3:30AM. O'Malley (the new cat) absolutely detests the newcomer (hissing, spitting, back-arched affairs), but Suey (the old cat) refuses to care in that "I'm an aloof cat, nothing can care as little as I do" fashion that she's so good at.

Ug has two things going for him. Like Dylan before him, Ug is smart. You can look in his eyes and see it. He loves to just be with people, and will follow everyone around the house. Second, Ug is a love sponge. He loves to love. You can tell he's been starved for attention and love, and when he gets it he just lights up. He will snuggle up, and loves it when you cuddle him in your arms.

I'd better get back to sleep, since we leave for the homeschool co-op in a few hours. Ug and Dylan are both down here with me, so I'll have to gather the whole zoo to take upstairs with me. It's closed, you see. :)