GHOST DOG

The way it was

By David Luttrell

December 7^th, 2014

All these animals are memories now. For a few, their lives went on to enrich someone else‘s. But for most, the die was cast as soon as they were picked up by Animal Control or dropped off with a litter of puppies or kittens. In some ways a lot has changed in 30 years since I shot this but in some communities, change, for a lot of reasons has come slower.

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It‘s Christmas season and as the decorations come out we continue the tradition of hanging small stockings on the mantel with the names of our current feline family and the departed ones. There are close to 20 stockings now. Its those memories that made me want to post this.

30 years ago there was no Facebook or any other social media, no Sarah McLachlan pulling at your heartstrings to send in a few dollars a month to the ASPCA, no Young Williams facility, just the Knox County Animal Shelter tucked away in South Knoxville. For the most part the last stop for a stray, homeless or unwanted animal.

As a kid we always got a pet from a friend or relative whose animal had just had a litter of offspring. Sometimes a stray would stick around after my brothers and I had slipped it food. But we had never been to the shelter to find a pet but we did know if your dog disappeared chances were he had gotten in trouble with the law and you had a very short time to bail him out. I remember after a successful rescue our randy, oversexed terrier, Spot, was neutered. My brothers and I took that as a warning.

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Newly married and in our first house at the end of Old Kingston Pike, we adopted a small, undernourished yellow kitten from the shelter and named him Yoda. A very popular name at the time. But the trip to the shelter stuck with me…..partly for the luck of getting such a great cat and partly for the guilt of not being able to adopt them all.

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The staff was compassionate but hardened by the ultimate outcome. The desperation of the animals was real and most of the employees carried an unspoken emotional burden. I pressed and got, “it‘s part of the job“. I‘m sure they all had their version of PTSD and coped the best they could. There was a time and space limitation and the euthanizations far outstripped the adoptions. And the animals didn‘t stop coming in.

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Is it better now? Maybe. Owners are more likely to spay and neuter their pets. Veterinarians continue to offer that service for feral animals when they can be caught and there are hardcore volunteers that help find homes for pets that have to be given up for a multitude of reasons. Facebook, tweeting and even old fashioned emails have made it easier for networks to save animals and find them those new homes as well as reuniting lost pets with their owners.

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to have had pets in my life. Hopefully they have helped make me a better person, but with cats and their midnight hairballs and litter boxes it’s sometimes questionable. If you don’t have a pet, get one or two and let them love you. You won’t regret it. If you can, give back, even if it’s just a little. It can be money, it can be time, it can even be forwarding those emails and tweets to help find homes for the unwanted.