Daily Dawgs: The day Rufus met his mom

Erica Loos ELoos@daikyEgyptian com

Hi guys! It’s me, Rufus! Today I want to tell you about the day I met my Mom. That was such an awesome day! I was just a tiny puppy, so I don’t really remember it, but Mom tells me the story all the time, and it’s one of my favorites! It was July 8, 2015 – the best day of the year if you ask me.

It all started when my Mom’s friend, Ashley, found me in her yard. Mom and Ashley have been friends for like 100 years or something, I think. Anyway, Ashley couldn’t find who I belonged to, so she decided to put my picture on Facebook asking if anyone wanted to take me to their house. Mom told me when she saw my sweet face (she can be so embarrassing) she knew I was meant to be her baby.

Guys! Mom said at first they thought I was a Pit Bull puppy! Can you believe it? They’re so silly!

Anyway, she called Ashley right away and guess what – she still had me! Mom drove to Ashley’s house the very next day and when she saw me in person for the first time she almost started crying. How embarrassing! I was curled up on the couch, cuddling and snoozing with Ashley’s daughter. We sat and visited for a while before we left, and on the drive home I rode in Mom’s lap. She said I even put my paws on the wheel and helped her drive home!

When we got there, she let me run around in my new yard for a little while before she took me inside. And guess what - I had a lot of stuff there already! There was a bed, toys, food and water bowls and my very own kennel! I also had a brother there named Buster, but I’ll tell you more about him another time. Mom said that seeing us side-by-side was funny because he was so much bigger than me, and that he even carried me around sometimes! He’s still bigger than me, but he doesn’t carry me around anymore. I put a stop to that nonsense pretty early on.

Since it was the day Mom got me, she calls it my gotcha day and we celebrate every year! She always tells me how happy she is that I came to be her baby, and that she doesn’t know what she’d do without me.

Mom also teaches me a lot of stuff, like about animal shelters and rescues. She said there are a lot of doggos and kitters that don’t have homes like mine, and they live in the shelter until a human family meets them and adopts them. Mom talked to someone at one of those shelter things recently, and found out a lot of cool stuff! I’ll let her tell you!

All across the country, animal shelters and rescues work tirelessly every day to save the lives of millions of animals per year. One such rescue, St. Francis Community Animal Rescue & Education (St. Francis C.A.R.E.) is located in Murphysboro, headed by Director Diane Daugherty.

“At any given time we have between 150 to 200 animals in our rescue,” Daugherty said.

St. Francis C.A.R.E. strives to not only save the lives of animals through rescue and adoption, but they also work diligently to educate the community about the importance of taking proper care of their pets.

“We give tours to schools, and sometimes we go to the school, to help the children understand that spaying and neutering is critical,” Daugherty said.

Attempting to control the population of unplanned and unwanted animals is the first step in saving lives, Daugherty indicated, which is why the rescue focuses so much attention on that topic. With that in mind, St. Francis C.A.R.E. offers a low-income spay and neuter clinic for the community several times per year.

Helping to find good, permanent, homes for the animals already in the shelter is another top priority. Interested parties must first fill out an application for adoption, and the staff thoroughly screen applicants in a variety of ways.

“We call landlords to make sure pets are allowed in the residence. If applicants have, or have had, pets we call the vet’s office to make sure those animals are on heartworm and flea preventatives. It’s in the best interest of the animals we adopt out to make sure they go to the best homes possible,” Daugherty said.

Adoption days are always exciting for the staff at St. Francis C.A.R.E. as they get to see their love and hard work pay off by sending animals to their forever homes.

“It’s awesome,” Daugherty said, “We always get the adoption picture before the families take their new pet home. Everyone is always so excited and the energy is just awesome.”

Adopting can seem costly, but there are many advantages to using a shelter, such as the animals having already been vetted. All pets adopted from

St. Francis C.A.R.E. are microchipped, spayed or neutered and up-to-date on shots.

“When someone adopts an animal, they’re really saving two lives with one adoption. They’re giving a good home to the pet they adopt, but they’re also opening a spot for us to take in another rescue animal,” Daugherty said.

Mom’s friend Ashley told her that if she wasn’t able to find a home for me, she would have taken me to a shelter. I probably wouldn’t have minded being at a shelter like St. Francis C.A.R.E. because Mom said the lady she talked to was really nice and makes sure all the animals there are taken really good care of. But I’m glad I got to go home with my Mom when I was just a tiny puppy. And that was almost eight years ago!

Guys! I’ve known my Mom almost my whole entire life! Isn’t that cool?

Anyway, I’m out of time because Mom talked too much! I won’t be writing next week because Mom said it’s a special edition, but I’ll be back right after that!

Love, Rufus