Ghost

When we moved to the beautiful smokey mountains we told ourselves we would give our hearts a break from rescue work because the toll it takes on your heart is so immense. When we arrived with our four legged family the only children we have we all just took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air and my husband and I thought what a beautiful place for these rescues that came with us to live thier lives out .

It was not long after arriving that I heard about a dog who had taken up residence on the roadside but no one seemed to know why. I decided that I had to find out more about this little dog so on a sunny afternoon I put a couple of cans of dog food in my car and headed out to find Ghost as I would end up naming him. When I arrived I saw something scurry into the tall grass but I could not be sure if it was him or not so I took a seat and just talked to him wondering if he was listening . I waited there for a couple of hours just talking but I did not see anything that day so I decided to go home and return the following day and try again. As I was leaving the area I wanted to find out if anyone knew why he was there so I stopped at the closest house I saw and they knew nothing about how he ever ended up there only that he had been there for a long time and that many people had tried to catch him but no one was successful. After leaving there something made me stop at another house that was just a bit further away but was calling to me and I am very intuitive and always listen to that little inner voice. When I knocked on the door an older woman answered and I asked her if she knew anything about the little god living in the woods nearby and her response was very bittersweet for me. She told me that several months ago she saw a car stop there very late in the evening that she could see the lights but not the car itself but that soon after it left she heard barking and she said she could see that area from her back deck and that is how she saw the car. She told me that he would come to her yard and she fed him and gave him water every day but he always returned to the road side to sit for the day as if he were waiting for someone. I asked her if she was able to befreind him enough for him to come inside so he would be safe from the wild animals that were out in the evening and she said that she had and that he would come and stay on her deck but that he would not come inside. I think a look of sadness came over me because she said dont worry and took me around the corner of her deck where she had a nice dog house filled with blankets . She said he is welcome to come inside but he seems to want to be outside so that he can come and go

I am sharing this story because I truly feel that it is the only way that I can help Ghost . I feel that if I am his voice and tell his story that maybe somehow it will touch someone and maybe it it will prevent someone else from doing this. I know and understand that life happens and that sometimes we have no choice but the choice to leave an animal on the roadside is not an acceptable one for any reason. For me the choice to leave my pet is not one I would ever make but I am willing to make that sacrafice and do what it takes to do that. I dont know if the universe will somehow bring my story and Ghosts family together but it is does I have to ask them how could you have done this? Would you leave your child behind in the dark and never look back. We as human beings should understand the bond that our animals have with us is at times greater that that of another human being or of your own child. They do not forget us when we leave them behind and never look back they watch us walk away and wonder why we left them behind . They mourn over us and dont understand why we never return to get them. I can not imagine how Ghost felt when he was left on the roadside that evening but what I do know is that he still spends every day waiting for his family to come back to get him and he will never understand what he did to make them leave him behind that evening in the dark. I beleive he will mourn for his lifetime and that this is why so many dogs are misundertood that we adopt from shetlers and why often shelters do not understand the dogs that end up there and many are deemed unadoptable. These dogs like ghost may end up being anxious when seperated from thier new family or possibly never bond the way that they did prior to being abandoned. It is so important to truly listen to an animal because they will tell you thier story and to give them the chance to trust you if you adopt . Dont walk by a kennel if your at a shelter because the dog lacks interest , or stays in the far corner stop and listen to him or her. Talk to them and ask them thier story and they will tell you with thier eyes and thier actions. I encourage anyone who is looking to get a dog to adopt from a local shelter and to take the time to stop at every cage and listen because that moment you take may save thier lives . With each person that stops a dog that is leary or afraid for what every reason will open little by little and when the family comes along that he or she belongs with he will walk up to them because someone else took a moment to let him know that he was ok , that they were not going to hurt him . When you simply walk by you may be walking by a ghost that was left behind once before .