from the mouths of babes

Holy Moly. This one really got to me...

A summer kids camp at Pet's Lifeline in Sonoma County recently introduced a group of kids to pit bulls via the story 'Saving Audie.' Audie as you probably know, was rescued from Bad Newz Kennels and the story covers his rescue and recovery in kid-friendly photos and text.

After digesting the story, a 12 year old girl wrote this essay - from the dog's perspective (Copied exactly as she wrote it):

Bang. Loud rambicios roudy yells of the tall gangely men and and some stalky staring down at me there faces hard looking me agressively in the eye I backed against the side of the pen and a surging sting quivering through my body as I was shunted forward a single word forming on my owners lips on who broke me one who beat me all feeling pulsing in my head the wall of sound behind me "fight".
he mouthed the dog opposite me head lolling in confusion but behined the bared teeth I saw a spark only for a split second it read a single word love. and behined the bared teeth I looked into the dogs sole it was there a kind loving other being. A dark shadow crossed his face a hurt tortured look. And the fight began. I closed my eyes.
I woke up some time later how much time had passed I didn't know it could be weeks or months or years. But the pain was behined me of the fight. But it was still with me it had formed me in the deepest part of my broken heart. A worker dressed in a uniform passed by shooting me a sorrow filled glance and I flashed back in my mind to that terrible place. Pressing myself against the cinder block wall crumpling in a corner. I wanted to float away like a balloon drifting further and further awy from this place of misery and hurt. Then suddenly a heavy metal door opened and soft warm loving eyes met mine she didn't look at me like I was a monster or a terror and she opened her hands in a frindly gesture and suddenly the cinder block wall felt cold so on shaking quivering legs I got up and walked toward a new life."

That's a whole lotta deep thinking for a 12 year old. It's certainly going to be interesting to see what the new generation brings to animal welfare as they come into adulthood with books like Saving Audie as their guideposts.

With many thanks to Roxanne Alden of Pets Lifeline, and to the young author of this essay (she's the taller girl smiling on the right and wearing blue.)