Killer was a stray that decided we were home.
Ollie was dumped at a friend's workplace and we took him in.
Henrietta was a stray that Bill found.
Tiger and Misty were my Mom's cats that we took in when she decided she couldn't take care of them anymore.
So, you know, with that track record, it's no wonder that my kids think that if a stray animal finds its way to our home, they are supposed to be ours.
Sigh.
Isabelle gets off the school bus just a few minutes before I pull in the driveway after picking up her sisters. She's often outside waiting on us (begging to go do something other than stay at home all afternoon/evening). Monday, when we got home, it looked like she was searching for something. I thought at first maybe Ollie got out. I parked and headed over to see what she was doing. She said she saw two stray puppies and she was trying to get them to come over so she could see if they had tags. Then these two small dogs come bounding over, excited and playful. No tags. Of course.
I took pictures of the dogs, posted on Facebook about them, reported them to the local lost and found pet organization. We tried to feed them, but they weren't starving. They looked healthy, and they were extremely friendly. There was a black female and a brown and white male. The boy dog ran off again, and Isabelle tried for a while to get him to come back, but he got too far down the road. We took the girl dog inside. About an hour later, the boy dog came back and came in the house.
People shared the dogs photos, but no one has come forward to claim them. I was really hoping someone would, and I still do. I don't want or need 2 more pets. I can't take them to the local shelter. We do have some no-kill shelters in the area, but even still, I would feel terrible. Black dogs are hard to adopt out, so I could be dooming her to God only knows how long in a cage in a shelter. And they seem to be a package deal.... they do not like to be apart. What are the odds of someone taking both of them? Maybe I'm just too soft.
Obviously, the girls think we should keep the dogs. They've already named them. Libby and Roscoe. I was hoping Bill would back me up on not keeping them. I mean, we have FIVE animals already. But he's softer than I am. I do have to admit that they have not been a problem the two nights they've been here. The boy dog runs off when we let them out, but he comes right back after an hour or so. The girl dog is perfectly content where she is. They're calm.
But seven animals? Ugh. I don't know what to do.
My sister joked yesterday that we should keep them because we'd have 5 humans, 4 cats, and 3 dogs. We could get 2 alpaca and a goat and we'd have an awesome counting song.
For now, I guess I'll just keep holding out hope that someone claims them. In the meantime, we need more seating in the living room....
Jeez...you guys are stray magnets. You need to post some signs in the front yard..something along the lines of NO VACANCY might work. Good luck finding the owners, I hope they come forward!
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