To those who have come and gone

I have worked at an animal shelter for the last 7 1/2 yrs. Approximately 2200 animals have come through the doors in that time. But there are some that stick out in my mind. Some that I still wonder about. Some that I miss. Bradley is a cat who was a recent sticker. He was a spazz. Bradley came into the shelter not liking people. Not liking a cage. Not liking to be touched. By the time he was adopted, Bradley would scream for attention. He would seek out the safety of his cage, his bed. He had people that he preferred. He was learning to accept being handled by strangers, even when the dogs were barking in the next room. He was learning that he liked all of the other cats, even if he was a little afraid of them when he first met them. Cats are, after all, fickle creatures, and who knew that better than Bradley? Luckily, most of the other cats that we introduced him to either liked him back, or tolerated him well. Bradley found a new home, which is a good thing. A week after he had gone home, we got a call from his new family. He was being difficult. Thats the last time we heard from Bradley's new family. I hope everything is going well and that he has settled into the home as well, or even better than he had settled into shelter life. But I wonder. And he's not the only one. 2200 animals approximately. And there are only a handful that I really think about often. Some of them, not even often any more, but their memory still sticks out in my mind, I still have a fondness for them. Freddie was the first. I took him home. I know he's doing well. :-D After that, next inline, was Rocky. A shep/dobie cross who hated strangers and tried to kill my mother through the chain link fence, while I stood in her kennel and tried to tell my mom how wonderful she was. My mom never again agree'd to meet any dog that I liked. Who can blame her? I tend to fall for the most difficult, ill fated ones I can find. Hopeless and lost causes some say. Me? I like to find hope in even the most difficult animals. Cubby, the chow/akita in the pictures. Butch, the little tan chow we pulled from another group, after I guilted the manager into it. For the next 4 months, I lived with the guilt of what had we done? What if we couldn't save him. It would be all my fault. Butch found a home, unfortunately with a young guy who just didn't get it. Several months later we got an angry message on our voicemail. The guy was fed up, and had turned Butch into a local pound with a high euthanasia rate. We don't know what happened to him after that. I hope for the best but always fear the worst. Chowda was a white kitten that I bottle fed since she was a day old. She was the only kitten that survived. Found outside with 2 siblings, in the cold. The other 2 died within days. Recently we got a letter saying that Chowda is doing well. Full of spunk, well adjusted. Iris is a hound that we just got a picture of today. She also came to us from another shelter. Underweight, having had multiple litters of puppies. She was covered in scars, and missing big chunks off of both her ears. Iris was here for about 4-5 months, and remained scared of us the whole time. She would crouch down and roll over every time we tried to reach for her, waiting for us to hit her. In the picture, she looks confident, happy, and healed. The picture of a well cared for, well loved dog. Shadow was a fear aggressive german shepard. We never thought he would get adopted. Last we heard, he was doing wonderfully well. He is the dog that really keeps me hoping. That really keeps me going. That really fuels the drive to try again and again to not find these animals hopeless. I miss these animals. I am happy for them, sad for them, and hope only the best for them.