‘Tis the night before Christmas and all through the town,
every shelter is full – we are lost but not found,
Our numbers are hung on our kennels so bare,
we hope every minute that someone will care,
They’ll come to adopt us and give us the call,
“Come here, Max and Sparkie – come fetch your new ball!!
But now we sit here and think of the days
we were treated so fondly – we had cute, baby ways.
Once we were little, then we grew and we grew,
now we’re no longer young and we’re no longer new.
So out the back door we were thrown like the trash,
they reacted so quickly – why were they so rash?
We “jump on the children:, “don’t come when they call”,
we “bark when they leave us”, climb over the wall.
We should have been neutered; we should have been spayed;
now we suffer the consequence of the errors THEY made.
If only they’d trained us, if only we knew,
we’d have done what they asked us and worshiped them, too.
We were left in the backyard, or worse – left to roam,
now we’re tired and lonely and out of a home.
They dropped us off here and they kissed us good-bye,
“Maybe someone else will give you a try.”
So now here we are, all confused and alone,
in a shelter with others who long for a home.
The kind workers come through with a meal and a pat,
with so many to care for, they can’t stay to chat,
They move to the next kennel, giving each of us cheer,
we know that they wonder how long we’ll be here.
We lay down to sleep and sweet dreams fill our heads,
of a home filled with love and our own cozy beds.
Then we wake to see sad eyes, brimming with tears,
our friends filled with emptiness, worry, and fear.
If you can’t adopt us and there’s no room at the Inn,
could you help with the bills and fill our food bin?
We count on your kindness each day of the year;
can you give more than hope to everyone here?
Please make a donation to pay for the heat
and help get us something special to eat.
The shelter that cares for us wants us to live,
and more of us will, if more people will give.
If you already have everything you need, how about suggesting to all those people that buy you things you never use to instead give a donation to the Randolph County Humane Society in your name. I can’t think of a better way to make a difference in the lives of so many with so little. And think of all the time you’ll have for yourself when you don’t have all those returns to make. It’s a win-win situation that has the added benefit of bringing joy and hope into the lives of others. And you never know what miracles will happen because of your kindness. Countless lives have been saved because of the love of a pet, including my own. But that’s a story for another day. For now, let’s see if we can improve this little corner of the world, and never forget, it’s only through you that we continue to save lives, one by one.
