HUMAN INTEREST & Animal Interest SECTION
It Takes a Village
By Michael Forbes
7th grade student
May 21, 2014
Suddenly there is a time stopping gasp that cuts through the cool desert air. It is a gasp that makes everyone stop and take notice. It causes adrenaline to pump through the bodies of all who hear it. This is a gasp that may have saved a child’s life. When a child needs help, it is imperative to sound an alarm in whatever form it may be. Raising a child truly takes a village. This means it takes more than just a child’s parents to keep the child safe. The safety of children requires the watchful eyes of friends, family, and even bystanders because parents can’t see everything, may not be in the right place to help, or worse, do not care about their child’s safety.
On a cool, desert night in a sandy campground, families gather together. While the adults sit by the campfire, the children enjoy playing in the soft sand. Only two years old, my sister and I often wander to places where we are not allowed. My sister toddles by the campfire a couple of times getting dangerously close to the scalding flames. My parents tell her, “Stay away from the fire!” She does not listen. The next time she toddles by the fire, she stumbles and starts to fall in. A gasp of fright alerts my dad. With his quick reactions, my dad grabs her inches from the scorching flames. Everybody around the campfire gasps again. “Is she hurt?” question the parents. Surprisingly my sister is not burned. She is fortunate that only her clothes and baby hair are singed. Luckily the watchful eye and gasp of a family friend alerted everyone to the danger. In this situation my parents do not realize my sister is in danger until someone brings it to their attention. They simply does not see her until alerted by a friend. Sometimes parents do notice the danger, but they are not close enough to help. Children are not tied to their parents with a string. Luckily my dad is close enough to help my sister. It is an unfortunate reality that some parents are either not able or do not care enough to closely watch their children. Parents cannot be with their children every second of the day. As much as they want to help, they cannot. Also, some parents are simply not good parents. It is for these reasons that everyone needs to be involved in protecting children in need. It does take a village to ensure the well-being of children.
The safety of children is everyone’s responsibility because parents cannot see everything, cannot be everywhere, or may not be able to care for their child. We have all seen someone who needs protection. It is important to remember that it is the community’s responsibility to protect its youth. Even peers need to look out for their own peers. Yes, that means teens can play a major role in keeping other teens safe. Gasp, sound the alarm, don’t be silent when someone is about to go down in "flames."
On a cool, desert night in a sandy campground, families gather together. While the adults sit by the campfire, the children enjoy playing in the soft sand. Only two years old, my sister and I often wander to places where we are not allowed. My sister toddles by the campfire a couple of times getting dangerously close to the scalding flames. My parents tell her, “Stay away from the fire!” She does not listen. The next time she toddles by the fire, she stumbles and starts to fall in. A gasp of fright alerts my dad. With his quick reactions, my dad grabs her inches from the scorching flames. Everybody around the campfire gasps again. “Is she hurt?” question the parents. Surprisingly my sister is not burned. She is fortunate that only her clothes and baby hair are singed. Luckily the watchful eye and gasp of a family friend alerted everyone to the danger. In this situation my parents do not realize my sister is in danger until someone brings it to their attention. They simply does not see her until alerted by a friend. Sometimes parents do notice the danger, but they are not close enough to help. Children are not tied to their parents with a string. Luckily my dad is close enough to help my sister. It is an unfortunate reality that some parents are either not able or do not care enough to closely watch their children. Parents cannot be with their children every second of the day. As much as they want to help, they cannot. Also, some parents are simply not good parents. It is for these reasons that everyone needs to be involved in protecting children in need. It does take a village to ensure the well-being of children.
The safety of children is everyone’s responsibility because parents cannot see everything, cannot be everywhere, or may not be able to care for their child. We have all seen someone who needs protection. It is important to remember that it is the community’s responsibility to protect its youth. Even peers need to look out for their own peers. Yes, that means teens can play a major role in keeping other teens safe. Gasp, sound the alarm, don’t be silent when someone is about to go down in "flames."
NIS numbers & NOTABLE QUOTES: IT TAKES A VILLAGE
One hundred NIS students were surveyed about who has the responsibility of protecting children. Of the students surveyed, 47% believe it is the parent’s responsibility, 12% believe it is the parents and relatives responsibility, 8% believe it is the parents, relatives, and friends responsibility, and 33% believe it is everybody’s responsibility. Although almost half of the students believe parents have the sole responsibility of protecting their children, it is important to recognize that a third of the students believe the responsibility lies with everybody. With maturity students will understand that parents cannot do everything and cannot be there all of the time. We are a community and all have the ability to help someone else. NIS students had some interesting comments on the survey topic. Nicole Thom says, “Everyone should, but mostly the parents/relatives.” According to Victoria Bodner, “Depends on the time and where you are at.” Allissa Parker explains, “I’d trust family, just not friends.” Jacob Williams quotes, “Parents because MY MOMMA is awesome.”
A PITBULL'S DESTINY AND A FAMILY'S DREAM
BY KYLEY GRIGG
7th grade student
May 29, 2014
Just imagine having to stay behind dirty, rusty bars with one, dirty chew toy while watching all the people walk past you because you're “too scary” or “too big,” watching as families leave with the “perfect dogs.” ‘Mz’ on Yahoo Answers estimates a Pit bulls death rate is 93%, so out of 100 Pit bulls put in a shelter only 7 live. Over 75% of Pit bulls are euthanized right away without even having a chance of getting adopted. Often times in life when people set out to help someone else, they receive an even bigger blessing and adopting a pet has the potential to do just that! People can help Pit bulls in the following ways: 1) you can adopt or provide a foster home until a family or individual adopts the dog, 2) you can donate money towards the Pit bulls put into the shelter, or 3) you can teach families who are looking for a dog that Pit bulls are not vicious beasts people make them sound. Which of the three ways can you help? My family did one of the three above and it would prove to change our lives forever.
This article is about a 2 ½ year-old, light brown, American Stafford Shire dog named Athena. She is a breed very similar to Pit bulls, and a dog that has been waiting for a family to adopt her for 6 months. Athena has been transferred to various shelters and ended up at the Norco Animal Shelter, a non-kill facility. Unfortunately, she has had bad experiences from her previous families that included abuse. My mother, Lori Grigg, and I decided to go find a dog at the shelter who was going to last a while in our family. We are very familiar with the Norco Animal Shelter because my mother has donated money towards the pets and got her name carved in a stone there. We walked in looking at the smaller dogs first, but my mother wanted a bigger dog to protect the house while we are gone. Afterwards, we headed over to the bigger dogs, there were many breeds of many kinds. We skimmed through them really fast hoping to find one that caught our attention. I liked them all but we can’t adopt them all. We came upon a dog behind the dirty bars of pen #26. She laid way in the back sleeping with a blue bandana around her neck and a chew toy right next to her face. Athena was the name read off the paper. When she heard us, she ran up to the bars excited and happy to see us. I knew she was the one. We brought her out to the playpen, in the open yard, to see what she was like and how she would behave while we stood inside the cage. She wasn’t very playful at the moment, but we knew she was a little shy at first. We brought her home to see what she was like and it was one of the best decisions we have ever made! We thought we were merely adopting a dog, but she has become part of our family and we have so many happy memories with her that we can't imagine our lives without her!
Years have past, Athena is still very active, and we are are so glad we adopted her. It's surprising she is so playful because she was once a mother, and you’d think that after having puppies, she wouldn’t be as playful. Athena has been a big part in our lives and was always there for us. She is considered a family member, we love her so much, and she has become an important part of our lives. It is very important to adopt because people don’t realize what pets have gone through and how their life was before ending up in the shelter. Pets are similar to humans because they are trying to figure out their future, if they are ever going to make it, and if they will ever be loved. It is important to adopt or rescue any pet, but for Pit bulls only 7 out of 100 have a chance. You can change that!
NIS NUMBERS AND NOTABLE QUOTES:
Fifty NIS students were surveyed about, “If they have ever adopted or rescued a pet?” Seventy-five percent answered, “yes", and 25% answered “no. Of the students that haven't 2% answered, “thought of it,” and 6% answered, “want to.” This means that students of NIS are above the average because the website, http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/pet_overpopulation/facts/pet_ownership_statistics.html states that 20% of dogs are rescued from an animal shelter. Vanessa Flores said, “I love my dog, I’ve had him for 8 years now and it has been great!” Chantal Carillo said, “I rescued two dogs, but they also rescued me.” Nora Abuelkhair said, “A bunch of cats, turtles and dogs!” Norco students do care about their animals, but would they ever adopt a Pit bull?
This article is about a 2 ½ year-old, light brown, American Stafford Shire dog named Athena. She is a breed very similar to Pit bulls, and a dog that has been waiting for a family to adopt her for 6 months. Athena has been transferred to various shelters and ended up at the Norco Animal Shelter, a non-kill facility. Unfortunately, she has had bad experiences from her previous families that included abuse. My mother, Lori Grigg, and I decided to go find a dog at the shelter who was going to last a while in our family. We are very familiar with the Norco Animal Shelter because my mother has donated money towards the pets and got her name carved in a stone there. We walked in looking at the smaller dogs first, but my mother wanted a bigger dog to protect the house while we are gone. Afterwards, we headed over to the bigger dogs, there were many breeds of many kinds. We skimmed through them really fast hoping to find one that caught our attention. I liked them all but we can’t adopt them all. We came upon a dog behind the dirty bars of pen #26. She laid way in the back sleeping with a blue bandana around her neck and a chew toy right next to her face. Athena was the name read off the paper. When she heard us, she ran up to the bars excited and happy to see us. I knew she was the one. We brought her out to the playpen, in the open yard, to see what she was like and how she would behave while we stood inside the cage. She wasn’t very playful at the moment, but we knew she was a little shy at first. We brought her home to see what she was like and it was one of the best decisions we have ever made! We thought we were merely adopting a dog, but she has become part of our family and we have so many happy memories with her that we can't imagine our lives without her!
Years have past, Athena is still very active, and we are are so glad we adopted her. It's surprising she is so playful because she was once a mother, and you’d think that after having puppies, she wouldn’t be as playful. Athena has been a big part in our lives and was always there for us. She is considered a family member, we love her so much, and she has become an important part of our lives. It is very important to adopt because people don’t realize what pets have gone through and how their life was before ending up in the shelter. Pets are similar to humans because they are trying to figure out their future, if they are ever going to make it, and if they will ever be loved. It is important to adopt or rescue any pet, but for Pit bulls only 7 out of 100 have a chance. You can change that!
NIS NUMBERS AND NOTABLE QUOTES:
Fifty NIS students were surveyed about, “If they have ever adopted or rescued a pet?” Seventy-five percent answered, “yes", and 25% answered “no. Of the students that haven't 2% answered, “thought of it,” and 6% answered, “want to.” This means that students of NIS are above the average because the website, http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/pet_overpopulation/facts/pet_ownership_statistics.html states that 20% of dogs are rescued from an animal shelter. Vanessa Flores said, “I love my dog, I’ve had him for 8 years now and it has been great!” Chantal Carillo said, “I rescued two dogs, but they also rescued me.” Nora Abuelkhair said, “A bunch of cats, turtles and dogs!” Norco students do care about their animals, but would they ever adopt a Pit bull?
KILLING CATS
BY nick RAMOS
7TH GRADE STUDENT
MAY 21, 20014
It’s a lovely summer day, you are working hard performing at a circus, you weigh 500 lbs, you had 60 lbs of raw meet at lunch, and you are famous for your coat! If you haven't already guessed, you are a magnificent tiger. Although sometimes your job isn’t the best, this is the only life you have known since you were a small cub. After your astonishing performance, you hear the audience cheer you on, screaming your name, as you are lured into your cage with a big raw T-bone steak. Even though you don’t like your cage, you can’t resist that savory smell. Soon you are hooked up to a truck and are off to your next destination. Although this time you don’t arrive at your next destination. Instead you are taken inside a strange, dark, and gray building. A man approaches you with a shiny, sharp syringe and he pokes it through your soft striped coat. You start to feel drowsy, and soon you sleep, only to never wake up again. This is what happens to most retired circus big cats. Big Cat Rescue (BCR) and , is an organization who saves big cats from abuse, abandonment, and being euthanized. BCR needs your help to save these poor big cats and even 10-year-olds can help.
Big Cat Rescue is a hard working, nonprofit organization which is home to over 100 tigers, lions, cougars, bobcats, and 10 other big cat species. You may picture a big cat as a fierce killing machine, but they are still animals and have the right to live. Here are the main ways you can help. Can you Bobcats save your fellow bobcats? You can help by donating, signing petitions, and volunteering. You can donate monthly, payments ranging from $10 to $150, or sponsor a big cat of your choice, ranging from $25 to $5,000, and even receive a sponsorship kit. If you chose to not spend money and stay home, you can sign petitions and get involved politically. If you wish to go above and beyond you could drive 1 hour and 45 minutes South of Norco and volunteer at Lions Tigers & Bears Big Cat and Exotic Animal Rescue in Alpine, California.
You may be thinking: who cares about these overgrown felines? Well, only you can save these cat’s lives from abuse, abandonment, and being put down. Most of these cats who are treated like this are already endangered species. Let me explain to you exactly why you need to help these big cats. Here are only a few examples of how these cats are treated. Big cats have to perform at a specific time in a circus, and if they refuse to perform, they are beaten, starved, and confined until they listen to their trainers. Circus cats are mostly cramped in the back of a truck or in a train boxcar because the circus is always on the move. Big cat cubs are often used as “props” for photos with people. These big cat cubs come from facilities that constantly breed big cats and remove the cubs from their mothers soon after they are born. When the cub is too large and expensive, they are sold either to taxidermists or to a private owner who will end up abandoning them. Big cat furs are in high demand, and many big cats are bred just to have their furs skinned. None of these big cats deserve this treatment, all of them have the right to be treated as a real animal. How would you like it if you were treated like these big cats? The significance of this article is tied to raising awareness of the plight of these magnificent animals and encouraging people to help save them. A big cat's life may be in the balance, and you could make sure that this gorgeous, innocent creature isn't killed!
(DON'T MISS THE PIC GALLERY BELOW AND VIDEO!)
http://lionstigersandbears.org/
Lions Tigers & Bears Big Cat and Exotic Animal Rescue
Telephone: 619.659.8078
Mailing Address:24402 Martin Way, Alpine, CA 91901
http://bigcatrescue.org/
12802 Easy St, Tampa, FL 33625 ph# (813) 920-4130
NIS NUMBERS AND NOTABLE QUOTES:
One hundred 7th and 8th grade NIS students were surveyed on the question, “Have you ever seen a big cat?” Ninety-four percent of those students have seen a big cat, 4% haven't seen a big cat in real life, and two percent who haven’t seen one, said they wanted to. Some students, like Mason Tejeda, commented, “Saw them at the zoo.” Another student, Allison Askier, commented her feelings on big cats, “They are cool only if they aren’t eating your head off.” I think we can all agree with Allison. Megan Forbes, who had seen big cats before, said, “They are... amazing creatures.” I did not, however, tell most students about BCR, but I did ask 5 students this, “Would you help BCR?” Kyler Greenway replied, “Yes, because they are endangered.” Like Kyler, Felipe Rios said, “Sure,” and Austin Erwin said, “Yes, indeed.” Clearly these percentages and comments tell us that most people have seen big cats, most likely because big cats are very interesting animals that deserve our respect.
Big Cat Rescue is a hard working, nonprofit organization which is home to over 100 tigers, lions, cougars, bobcats, and 10 other big cat species. You may picture a big cat as a fierce killing machine, but they are still animals and have the right to live. Here are the main ways you can help. Can you Bobcats save your fellow bobcats? You can help by donating, signing petitions, and volunteering. You can donate monthly, payments ranging from $10 to $150, or sponsor a big cat of your choice, ranging from $25 to $5,000, and even receive a sponsorship kit. If you chose to not spend money and stay home, you can sign petitions and get involved politically. If you wish to go above and beyond you could drive 1 hour and 45 minutes South of Norco and volunteer at Lions Tigers & Bears Big Cat and Exotic Animal Rescue in Alpine, California.
You may be thinking: who cares about these overgrown felines? Well, only you can save these cat’s lives from abuse, abandonment, and being put down. Most of these cats who are treated like this are already endangered species. Let me explain to you exactly why you need to help these big cats. Here are only a few examples of how these cats are treated. Big cats have to perform at a specific time in a circus, and if they refuse to perform, they are beaten, starved, and confined until they listen to their trainers. Circus cats are mostly cramped in the back of a truck or in a train boxcar because the circus is always on the move. Big cat cubs are often used as “props” for photos with people. These big cat cubs come from facilities that constantly breed big cats and remove the cubs from their mothers soon after they are born. When the cub is too large and expensive, they are sold either to taxidermists or to a private owner who will end up abandoning them. Big cat furs are in high demand, and many big cats are bred just to have their furs skinned. None of these big cats deserve this treatment, all of them have the right to be treated as a real animal. How would you like it if you were treated like these big cats? The significance of this article is tied to raising awareness of the plight of these magnificent animals and encouraging people to help save them. A big cat's life may be in the balance, and you could make sure that this gorgeous, innocent creature isn't killed!
(DON'T MISS THE PIC GALLERY BELOW AND VIDEO!)
http://lionstigersandbears.org/
Lions Tigers & Bears Big Cat and Exotic Animal Rescue
Telephone: 619.659.8078
Mailing Address:24402 Martin Way, Alpine, CA 91901
http://bigcatrescue.org/
12802 Easy St, Tampa, FL 33625 ph# (813) 920-4130
NIS NUMBERS AND NOTABLE QUOTES:
One hundred 7th and 8th grade NIS students were surveyed on the question, “Have you ever seen a big cat?” Ninety-four percent of those students have seen a big cat, 4% haven't seen a big cat in real life, and two percent who haven’t seen one, said they wanted to. Some students, like Mason Tejeda, commented, “Saw them at the zoo.” Another student, Allison Askier, commented her feelings on big cats, “They are cool only if they aren’t eating your head off.” I think we can all agree with Allison. Megan Forbes, who had seen big cats before, said, “They are... amazing creatures.” I did not, however, tell most students about BCR, but I did ask 5 students this, “Would you help BCR?” Kyler Greenway replied, “Yes, because they are endangered.” Like Kyler, Felipe Rios said, “Sure,” and Austin Erwin said, “Yes, indeed.” Clearly these percentages and comments tell us that most people have seen big cats, most likely because big cats are very interesting animals that deserve our respect.
RESCUE ME!
BY JESSICA SEEGER
7TH GRADE STUDENT
FEBRUARY 6, 2014
Imagine you’re lying on your favorite, soft, and fluffy bed with your tail wagging as you anxiously wait for your favorite thing to do. You can't wait to take a long car ride with the window down and your nose in the cool breeze as you take in all of wonderful aromas. Then, all of a sudden, you finally hear your owner say, “Come on Buddy! Let’s go for a car ride!” You jump up so excited that you can hardly stand it. As soon as the front door opens, you run out and jump in the front seat of the big blue Jeep. You always get to ride there while sitting up straight and tall and looking out the sparkling clear window. The ability to see where you’re going makes the ride all the more fun. Normally, you go to the huge beautiful dog park on a bright and sunny day. You meet lots of other sweet dogs and are able to run, play, and have tons of fun. This time though, you don’t stop at the park. Suddenly you realize you are riding down a long windy road that seems to go on forever that you’ve never seen or been on in your entire life. You wonder where you are, and where you are going. Before you know it, you’re pulling into the parking lot of a big strange looking building. As soon as the car door opens you jump out, excited to find out what this new strange place is. Your owner leads you in the door but now you are a little scared of this new smelly place. What you see are tons of black cages that look like little prisons and all the scared dogs yelping for help inside of them. A strange woman dressed in a scary uniform takes you and shoves you in one of these cramped cages. You look up and see your owner walking out the door leaving you behind. Suddenly you realize where you are at. Your owner has left you at the animal shelter. This is the dreaded of all places for any animal to end up at. This happens to many animals every day. Animals are in small kennels sometimes with another dog they don’t even know, which makes even less room in the cage. Some animals can be at the shelter a long time before finding the perfect home. If animals are at the shelter to long they may become a little aggressive or can even be euthanized to make room for more animals that come to the shelter. Many animals have to experience this every day while waiting for a loving and caring home.
Sadie and Gracie were two of these many animals waiting for their loving and caring "forever" home. Sadie and Gracie are both beautiful dogs who are Australian Shepherd mixes. Sadie is 10 years old and is black and white. Gracie is 8 years old and is brown and white. They were about to be euthanized and were too nice to deserve that. My mom and I rescued them from the Corona Animal Shelter. We weren’t going to adopt Sadie and Gracie since we already had two dogs of our own. We set up a foster home where they would stay until they found a permanent home. Sadie and Gracie would had lots of room to run on their new 1 acre property. The family loved them to pieces as they let them in the house, gave them lots of treats, showed them affection, and even let them sleep on their bed. It sounded like the perfect place. Sadie and Gracie were there for about 2 months and we actually thought that the family would keep them. Then one day the family called us and said they weren't behaving themselves and the dogs couldn't stay at their house. My mom and I went and picked them up wondered what to do with them since they couldn’t come to our house. Even though we hated to put them in boarding that’s where they had to go since there was nowhere else for them. We took them to a place called Pet Chalet where we knew they would be taken care of. Pet Chalet is a nice place with good sized kennel runs and they let the dogs out into the play yard every day. Sadie and Gracie were only there for 2 weeks because a nice family wanted to adopt them. The house was huge and super nice with almost 10 acres of land. Through several phone calls with their new owners, we learned the family would always take them on long walks, kept them well fed, and seemed to really connect with the dogs. However one day the call was not good. They said Sadie and Gracie were not behaving themselves there either. We wondered why they weren’t behaving since it was such a wonderful place. My mom and I went to pick them up and wondered what we were going to do with these dogs who didn’t behave anywhere we put them.
My mom and I decided that Sadie and Gracie would have to come to our house since there was no other place for them to go. They weren’t as happy at our house as they were at the other places since they did not have a big yard to run and play in. The other families said they weren’t behaving but we never saw that when they were at our house. They were perfect sweet dogs. Even though Sadie and Gracie came to our house we were still hoping to get them adopted. Many people did call asking about them but then the people backed out once we told them we’d like to have them adopted together. The potential adopters always wanted just one of them. Time went on and nobody was interested in them. We eventually ended up having Sadie and Gracie for a year. We decided to keep them because we just wouldn’t be able to bare parting with them since they were so sweet and good. Sadie and Gracie are very happy at our house now. The only thing that is hard is my other dog that is almost 16 years old whose name is Brittney has to go outside by herself and stay in the house separate from the new girls. They stay separated all the time which is hard. Sadie and Gracie go outside often and get lots of love and treats. They’re very spoiled. They do get to roam the house a lot when my other dog goes outside. Sadie and Gracie get along with my rabbit and don’t damage anything or play with things that they know they’re not supposed to play with. They also listen to commands well and get to go on walks every day. They are great dogs and I’m glad we were able to keep and save them from being euthanized. We love them and they love us. You have heard the saying, “If you love something set it free. If it comes back to you then it was meant to be.” Well that’s exactly what Sadie and Gracie did.
I wondered how many other kids had experienced something like this too. I asked 50 students at my school this question. Have you ever rescued an animal? The results are 72% of the students have rescued an animal and 28% of the students haven't. Lilly M. said, “It was a life changing experience.” I agree with her feelings. I want everyone to read how important it is to rescue animals. This reporter will continue to rescue animals and I hope everyone else will do the same.
Sadie and Gracie were two of these many animals waiting for their loving and caring "forever" home. Sadie and Gracie are both beautiful dogs who are Australian Shepherd mixes. Sadie is 10 years old and is black and white. Gracie is 8 years old and is brown and white. They were about to be euthanized and were too nice to deserve that. My mom and I rescued them from the Corona Animal Shelter. We weren’t going to adopt Sadie and Gracie since we already had two dogs of our own. We set up a foster home where they would stay until they found a permanent home. Sadie and Gracie would had lots of room to run on their new 1 acre property. The family loved them to pieces as they let them in the house, gave them lots of treats, showed them affection, and even let them sleep on their bed. It sounded like the perfect place. Sadie and Gracie were there for about 2 months and we actually thought that the family would keep them. Then one day the family called us and said they weren't behaving themselves and the dogs couldn't stay at their house. My mom and I went and picked them up wondered what to do with them since they couldn’t come to our house. Even though we hated to put them in boarding that’s where they had to go since there was nowhere else for them. We took them to a place called Pet Chalet where we knew they would be taken care of. Pet Chalet is a nice place with good sized kennel runs and they let the dogs out into the play yard every day. Sadie and Gracie were only there for 2 weeks because a nice family wanted to adopt them. The house was huge and super nice with almost 10 acres of land. Through several phone calls with their new owners, we learned the family would always take them on long walks, kept them well fed, and seemed to really connect with the dogs. However one day the call was not good. They said Sadie and Gracie were not behaving themselves there either. We wondered why they weren’t behaving since it was such a wonderful place. My mom and I went to pick them up and wondered what we were going to do with these dogs who didn’t behave anywhere we put them.
My mom and I decided that Sadie and Gracie would have to come to our house since there was no other place for them to go. They weren’t as happy at our house as they were at the other places since they did not have a big yard to run and play in. The other families said they weren’t behaving but we never saw that when they were at our house. They were perfect sweet dogs. Even though Sadie and Gracie came to our house we were still hoping to get them adopted. Many people did call asking about them but then the people backed out once we told them we’d like to have them adopted together. The potential adopters always wanted just one of them. Time went on and nobody was interested in them. We eventually ended up having Sadie and Gracie for a year. We decided to keep them because we just wouldn’t be able to bare parting with them since they were so sweet and good. Sadie and Gracie are very happy at our house now. The only thing that is hard is my other dog that is almost 16 years old whose name is Brittney has to go outside by herself and stay in the house separate from the new girls. They stay separated all the time which is hard. Sadie and Gracie go outside often and get lots of love and treats. They’re very spoiled. They do get to roam the house a lot when my other dog goes outside. Sadie and Gracie get along with my rabbit and don’t damage anything or play with things that they know they’re not supposed to play with. They also listen to commands well and get to go on walks every day. They are great dogs and I’m glad we were able to keep and save them from being euthanized. We love them and they love us. You have heard the saying, “If you love something set it free. If it comes back to you then it was meant to be.” Well that’s exactly what Sadie and Gracie did.
I wondered how many other kids had experienced something like this too. I asked 50 students at my school this question. Have you ever rescued an animal? The results are 72% of the students have rescued an animal and 28% of the students haven't. Lilly M. said, “It was a life changing experience.” I agree with her feelings. I want everyone to read how important it is to rescue animals. This reporter will continue to rescue animals and I hope everyone else will do the same.