Why must all the wandering animals find my door?

Yes, another animal in need has sought me out. I do not know how they know. Do I have a scent that only animal rescuers have? Is there a sign on my door that I don't know about? Are there secret "needy animal meetings" where all the ferrel and helpless animals discuss me? Maybe they have created a scent trail to my house so I can always be found.

This story starts about two months ago. I was minding my own business on my couch with my cat on my lap. Percy needed a little attention, always. I mentioned to Henry that I needed to get something out of the car and he decided to get things started by opening the door. As soon as the door opened a German Shepherd comes bounding into my house. The cat FREAKS and goes screaching out the door, leaving claw marks up my arm. I shew the dog out, and then it hits. That bone inside of me that CANNOT leave an animal alone without an owner. Where would he go? What if he got hit by a car? Where does he live? So I go running after the dog to see if she has a collar. Oh yes, of course. I call the number and get a VM. It looks like she is from a rescue cause the tag had a rescue name and number on it. I patiently wait for someone to call me. I take the dog outside, shoot, she's chasing my chickens. Dang. Now I have to leave her in the house. Meanwhile, Keith gets home. I can see the look in his eyes. What is this? Another animal? He just stares on and asks no questions. He figures it's better that way.

I have to go to work, and as I am driving away, my neighbor is in the middle of the street calling a dog's name. NOOOO! Not the man with two large horses crammed in the corner of his .41 acre lot! It CANNOT be him! Not the cranky old man that lies about irrigation and how long he's lived here! I decide I will think about it before I make any drastic moves, like returning the dog to HIM! When I get home from work, I begrudgingly tell Keith about the neighbor. "Well, let's just let her go then and see if she makes it back to her house." Um, no. Not a responsible pet owner/lover idea. At this point Keith just wants the dog out of the house and decided to walk her to the neighbors on a leash. Smart thinking, Keith.

Just as he gets back, we get a phone call from the rescue I left a message for. Turns out the dog's name is Cleo. She was adopted out a few months prior to this. If you know anything about rescues, you know they are very picky about who adopts their dogs. There are home checks involved, etc. If anything happens and you cannot keep the dog, you are UNDER CONTRACT to notify the rescue and give the dog back before selling or terminating the animal. Well, the stupid people that adopted her decided they no longer wanted the dog and sold her on craigslist to my stupid neighbors. They forgot to tell my ornery neighbors that the dog can jump 4 foot fences, which was all my neighbors have. So the dog ends up in MY house. The rescue lady was very distraught and asked that I call her if I saw the dog again. She is still the legal owner of the dog and wants to reclaim her if the problem continues. Oh no. WHAT AM I GETTING MYSELF INTO?

One month later - I see the dog. But I'm heading out and don't have time to deal with this! I call the rescue and leave a message. As soon as I leave, Keith lets her go. The rescue lady calls and asks that I please keep her next time and call her ASAP. Okay, okay. I'm a glutten for punishment.

Today - just leaving for church - 45 minutes late (8:30AM church is hard!). Cleo comes running up to the kids. NO! I send Keith on his way with the kids and tell him I will catch up with him. He just patiently replies, "Okay." I call the rescue lady. She lives 30 minutes away but is coming right away. Then I hear my neighbor calling, "CLEO!" in the street. Lay low, lay low. Then he drives off in his big "man" truck, assumably to go look for Cleo. Just as the rescue lady arrives, he is driving back. She sneaks in. We are both conflicted about what to do, but we both know the dog cannot stay in a house where she jumps the fence, runs through the streets, could get hit by a car, is fed crappy dog food, is losing weight, and is obviously not treated properly. Afterall, the rescue lady is the rightful owner on the microchip and the dog was supposed to be returned to her if any adoption issues came up. So, she takes the dog, loads her in her truck, and I take off for church. That has been my day.

I just hope my neighbor doesn't come knocking on my door.