HAPPY GOTCHA DAY, BEAU!

A blythe spirit--this is the same happy face I saw smiling at me through the chain link cage at the shelter on 10/17/2009 

Today is my basset Beau's 5th "Gotcha Day." Five years ago today I found the most wonderful dog in the world at a high-kill animal shelter in a neighboring town, where his prospects for adoption were slim. He was five years old and on his third strike as a stray. I always like to think he kept escaping his home because he was looking for a better one. His former owners wouldn't post his bail. I gave him his Get Out of Jail Free card; well, he wasn't exactly free. I paid $250 to adopt him. It was a lot of money for an older dog with a leg injury, and more vet bills followed, but I've never been sorry that I adopted him. He's the light of my life. 

Your new best friend is waiting for his (or her) forever home at a shelter. This weekend, you can adopt any pet for only $20 at any Sacramento animal shelter. Adopt two! Let's get out there and empty those shelters! But please remember that adopting a pet is a commitment to provide that pet the best life for the rest of its life. After what many of them have been through before ending up in a shelter, they deserve no less!