Perspective one:
I sat hungry, frightened and alone in a small iron cage. The cold concrete underneath my sore paws made me tremble. The building in front of me looked neglected and I could see stains running down it grey walls. They reminded me of tears. I didn’t know what I was doing here but it had to be better than where I came from.
A man in a khaki uniform came and sat down beside my cage. He was a round man with pink cheeks. His grey eyes did not light up when he smiled down at me. He pulled out a cigarette and we sat together in silence as he smoked it. He left one hand on top of my cage while he smoked another two cigarettes. I realised this was the kindest contact I’d ever had with a human.
He carried me into a room with a strange smell that stung my nose. In the middle was a silver table that looked uninviting. The man tried to put me down onto it but it felt like ice under my paws so I scrambled back into his arms. He put me down onto the floor instead where I nervously relieved myself. I crawled away from the puddle and tried to scamper after the man but he left the room and I was alone again.
He came back with a syringe in his hand. He put it down on the table and then sat on the floor against the wall opposite me. He called me over to him by tapping the floor. I thought he might be angry at me for messing the floor so I stayed where I was and tried to melt away into the cold grey walls. I wanted him to take me back outside where we could sit together and the fresh air could fill my lungs. I was shaking so it was difficult to push myself against the wall because my feet couldn’t grip onto the slippery floor. He was still calling me so I put my head as low as I could to the ground and crawled slowly towards him with my tail between my legs. He picked me up in his hands and held me against his chest. I could hear his heart pounding and it sounded just like mine.
Holding me in his arms, he stood up and I started to shake violently. I did not like the look, the smell or the feel of that table plus I did not want him to put me onto it. I wanted to stay in his warm arms, against his warm chest.
He tried to lay me down against the table and I kept fighting but it was no use. He held me down with two strong hands and I saw him pick up the syringe. I looked up at him and pleaded with him to let me go. Then he stopped pushing and said, “I can’t do this.”
Perspective two:
I went and got the poison out of the fridge before returning to the shaking little puppy. She was pushing herself into the wall trying to get away but I saw a flicker of hope in her eyes as she saw me re-enter the room. I put the syringe on the table and slid down onto the floor before calling her over to me.
She was so frightened I think she forgot how to move. Slowly she crawled towards me. When she was close enough I scooped her into my arms. Her coat was brown with black stripes like that of a tiger. She had big brown eyes that looked like they had seen so much hurt in this world. Her tail was stuck firmly between her legs and I never saw it wag. I wondered where she had been before I picked her up from the side of the road.
The job I do is not easy but it’s the only job I could get to support my family. Most dogs that come to us are extremely violent so I justify my actions as I picture the attacks that are shown on the news. It seems like the right thing to do. Some that come to us are sick or injured and their families can’t afford or don’t want to pay for their medical bills. Those cases are hard but harder still are the ones that come to us with nothing wrong and we can only keep a few healthy dogs in our care. There is no room for this little tiger today. Maybe I should have ignored the call and left her on the streets to fight another day?
I rise with the petrified sole in my hands and attempt to place her on the table. She thrashes around wildly for a moment but I can easily hold her down. Then she looks up at me with those big brown puppy dog eyes and it’s the most heartbreaking look I have ever seen.
“I can’t do this.”
I stop pushing against her and she jumps into my arms. As a tear rolls down my cheek, she looks at me and licks it away.
I walk out of that room with her wriggling in my arms and pick up the phone in the office determined to let this little one continue her life.
I call a rescue group I found on the internet called Best Friends Rescue. They say they will be here as soon as possible. They also told me that every dog in their care finds a loving forever home.
It was that easy to breathe life back into this puppy. She is happy sitting in my lap as we wait for her rescuers but soon she jumps off and rolls around on the carpet like a pig in mud. Oblivious, I think, to how close she had come to death.
Saving the little tiger won’t change the world but the world is sure going to change for this one little puppy.
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