A New Beginning

Most often, Heartland's animals come from the pound, are owner-surrendered or from someone who saved an abandoned or injured cat or dog. But last Friday I was allowed to be part of a different kind of rescue.

Heartland was asked to take in several puppy mill dogs. Missouri is well known for its puppy mills, where dogs most of us would treat as family members are treated, instead, as livestock. Perhaps not all mills are what we see on television exposes, but it is hard to imagine anyone being able to handle the sheer number of animals a puppy mill harbors -- or that the animals don't suffer the consequences.

Unfortunately, the dogs Heartland was able to take Friday did suffer the consequences of life in a puppy mill. Six adult dogs went to other Heartland Volunteers who now face the task of restoring their health and teaching them how to be pets. Being witness to these very frightened dogs getting loaded into a Heartland volunteer's car was truly amazing. Despite their fear, they wagged their tails as if they knew their life was changing for the better.

I got the easy job really. I took home two six-week-old puppies, the result of an accidental breeding. Though they arrived here simply terrified of everything, they have quickly learned to become just regular puppies; jumping, barking, wagging their tails and making sure they've shredded all the newspaper in their quarantine pen.

These little guys are affenpinscher/beagle mixes and having them is a new challenge for me. I'll be honest. I'm a "big dog" person. I have never quite understood the appeal of toy breeds. To me, they look like ewoks (thus, I named them Wicket and Warrick -- real ewok names, for those impressed by Star Wars trivia). Warrick will probably be beagle sized and Wicket will likely remain under ten pounds. And, they really are sweet boys who, now that they've discovered what it's like to have a human of their very own, just want to be petted and loved.