I looked at the paperwork, which I had not read before, (what? she was a free dog. I didn't care if she had a pedigree or anything and I didn't have to sign anything. what?? she's a Jack Russell! I was busy walking her and paying attention to her and trying (admittedly in vain) to keep her out of trouble!)and noticed that she had previously been adopted from the local shelter. Then I saw item #12 on one of the adoption agreement forms that says "If for any reason you are unable to keep this animal you agree to return it to the shelter."
My memory flashed back to a crying Ellen Degeneres. Ellen had adopted a dog from a shelter and when the dog didn't get along with her other pets she gave it to her hairdresser's family who had fallen in love with the dog. Unfortunately Ellen had signed adoption papers that said that if she could not keep the animal she must return it to the shelter. The shelter came to the housekeepers house and repossessed the dog!Ellen was crying on national TV, her audience was crying, there were threats of violence against the shelter, on and on.
Both sides had their points and this post isn't about who was wrong or right. This post is about how Instant Panic set in!
Oh my god, they were going to repossess Lucy! I'd just lost Libby four days before getting Lucy and now a week after getting her the pound is going to take her away from me!
I couldn't concentrate at work. I kept bursting into random tears. I was afraid to tell anyone what was going on with the fear that they'd turn us into the shelter. Sometimes google and ask yahoo are your enemy. Half the people I "asked" at yahoo said yes, she was going to be taken back, the other half said no way, they can't do that because we weren't the ones who signed that paperwork in the first place.
I emailed a friend of mine who worked at a shelter in Wisconsin and asked her to email her friend in the shelter here so they couldn't track me down. Yes, I can be THAT paranoid. I had fallen completely in love with this little dog in the week we had her, and she loved all of us. I couldn't bear the thought of losing her!
My friend agreed to email her friend, but we didn't hear back for a couple of days and the panic just increased.So, because I am Instant Gratification Girl (something my personality has in common with JRTs) I emailed the shelter myself, with a "hypothetical" scenario.
"Hypothetically speaking", I wrote,"if a person who adopts one of your animals and can no longer care for the animal but instead of bringing it back to you they give it to someone else, would you repossess that animal from the second party?" I did this email from my real email address. This is a small town and I also reminded them in the email how we had adopted Sammy and Libby, a guinea pig, and birds from them over the years, and I said "this is just hypothetical, mind you... for a friend..."
8 days went by before I got an answer. 8 freakin' days where my paranoia could fester and bloom like a giant stinking Titan Arum. Finally I got an answer from them. It took me two more days to be brave enough to open the email.
What a relief! The manager of the shelter did remember our family and how we keep what we adopt its entire life. She said that no, if the animal was in a safe and healthy home they would not take it back. They don't want to have to re-house animals, they want them to be in safe permanent homes. Then at the end of her email she added, "but if this is Lucy, and you've adopted her from the _________'s you need to call me right away. I have lot to tell you about Lucy!"
I had to email her back to tell her I'd call her later and I said "Yes, it is Lucy, and I love her so so so so much! I've been so afraid you would take her back like they did Ellen's dog! I was getting ready to change our identities, learn Catalan and move to Andorra!" The shelter lady emailed again with an LOL and said no, they know we are a good family, but still wanted me to call her as soon as I could.
Upcoming blog entry will be about why the shelter needed to talk to us about Lucy. Stay tuned.
Mommy and I are on pins and needles! Can't wait for the next edition! By the way we LOVE your picture at the top of your blog--love your little toothies!
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