My Life Among the Underdogs by Tia Torres

Author:Tia Torres
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-01-14T16:00:00+00:00

6

Monster

A Dog and His Boy

As children, we grow up learning to fear monsters. There are the ones that lie in wait under our beds, keeping us frozen in terror as our legs dangle over the sides. Then of course there are those Sasquatch-size creatures who hide in the closet waiting for us to fall into a slumber, only to leap from the clutter of clothing and mismatched shoes, leaving us hyperventilating and trying to call out to our parents. Even if our parents manage to comfort us, we may never get past that fear, as our imaginary, disfigured villains become all too vivid. Eventually the bulging green eyes and dripping fangs become baby blues and veneers as pretend turns into the real-life monsters: humans. If only I had known there would be many monsters in my future just like that . . . Hiding under the covers may have been the safest place my kids and I have ever known.

These were some pretty dark times for our family. The rescue was at its capacity, and the money and donations had all but dried up. And despite not being the most religious people in town, we found ourselves having to beg for food from the local church. It’s amazing how much hunger can play a role in making one quite the hypocrite. I was trying to hold it together for not only my two-legged kids but the four-legged ones as well. And despite these desperate times, I continued to follow through with my mission of rescuing dogs.

By now, Villalobos Rescue Center had a solid relationship with all the local animal shelters. Although they all received hundreds of dogs on a weekly basis, every now and then there would be that “special” one who would tug on the emotions of one of the shelter workers. Such was the case on this day.

I was told that a dog was coming in and that animal control wanted me to bring him to the rescue rather than have him entered into the shelter system. So I jumped in my beat-up white Dodge van and made the one-hour drive into the San Fernando Valley and to the East Valley Shelter.

As I walked through those double glass doors, as I had so many times before, the scene was unlike any I had ever encountered. Right away I recognized the animal control officer (ACO) with whom I dealt on a regular basis. She was talking to a family with three children, one of them very distraught. As I entered the lobby, the ACO showed an obvious look of relief. Realizing that this was why I’d been called down to the shelter, I walked over to the family and introduced myself.

They appeared to be from a nice, traditional family that, like so many others, had fallen on hard times and had to move. They had tried desperately to find a place that would allow them to take Monster, the Pit Bull of their eleven-year-old son, but were rejected at every turn.

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