Back in July 2022, our canine companion of 17 years, a rescued Border Collie mix we named Sheena, died. Family and friends know I've been grieving for her ever since, although I'm not yet ready to adopt her successor. That's probably why a story in The Washington Post has set off a welter of emotional reflections in me.
It's important that you take a few minutes now to read the story, "Homeless mom left her dog with note, ‘please love me.’ A shelter reunited them."
Writer Sydney Page's story focuses on the heartrending note tied to Lilo's collar when she was found: “Please keep my name. My name is Lilo. Please love me. My mom can’t keep me and is homeless with 2 kids. She tried her best but can’t get help. I cost too much for her.”
“She really loves me and I’m a great dog and love to be loved on. Please don’t abuse me.”
Lilo and Mom
Lilo is reunited with her mom at McKamey Animal Shelter in Chattanooga, Tenn., where the staff are working to help Lilo's homeless family get into a more stable living situation. (Photo by McKamey Animal Shelter. Used by Permission).
Animal lovers everywhere are already in tears at this story. Thankfully, there's at least a happy middle to the tale, and a happy ending is in the works, said Lauren Mann, director of advancement at the McKamey Animal Shelter in Chattanooga, Tenn. The shelter has reunited Lilo with her mom (see accompanying photo) and is working to get Lilo's family off the street and into a more stable situation. Until they can be permanently reunited, Lilo is living at McKamey Shelter, safe and fed and loved.
Wrote Ms. Page: "Mann and her colleagues hope Lilo’s story inspires people to reach out to their local animal shelter and offer support — whether through adopting, fostering, donating supplies or volunteering."
Ms. Mann's closing comment to the Post deserves attention: “Compassion and kindness are what people and animals need right now more than ever.”
Compassion and kindness. These words keep ringing in my ears as I made my way through the daily litany of human woe: the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police; the bombing of a mosque inside a police compound in Peshawar, Pakistan; violence and death in clashes between Israelis and Palestinians; endless reports of armed conflict from the Russian incursion into Ukraine; worsening hunger in Afghanistan, Somalia, Ethiopia and elsewhere. Some people might think that against these and other major human calamities, the fate of one homeless family and their dog is insignificant.
Yet the good-hearted staff at McKamey Animal Shelter know better, and they have shown us the true meaning of humanity as God intended: that we recognize we are all part of the same creation and are responsible for one another's welfare. The Holy Bible says that God entrusted humans with "dominion" over creation, which has been misinterpreted as "domination" rather than "care." How we respond to our connection with God's creatures creation volumes about who we are and about the world we create every day.
I long to know so much more about Lilo's family. For instance, how is it that a mother with two children can find no home for them? Are they hungry as well as homeless? Are the kids in school if they're old enough? Why can't she find the help they need? How many more families like Lilo's are in Chattanooga, or in my hometown of Dallas, Texas, or in Portland, Ore., where housing prices are so high that even people in well-paying jobs, let alone people with less-than-adequate incomes, are struggling to find and keep homes?
Most of all, what does it say about us as a society that so many people lack "compassion and kindness" that they must abandon beloved pets that are as close to them as human family members? Whatever it is, the cause of this situation is wrong, just wrong. Why don't we fix it?
I share Ms. Mann's hope that Lilo's story will spark compassion and kindness in everyone who reads it, not just for animals, but for all in need of help and companionship. The Holy Bible is filled with injunctions for us believers to welcome strangers, feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, heal the sick, visit those in prison. Why do these simple instructions receive far less attention from Christians today than a few scripture passages having to do with sexual relations? I can't understand it.
What I do understand comes by way of a YouTube video, "GoD and DoG," posted 13 years ago by its author, poet and musician Wendy Francisco. Here it is:
GoD and DoG
Ms. Francisco beautifully captures the love between a dog and its human, between humans and God. I'm grateful to the McKamey Shelter staff for recognizing how much Lilo is loved, and how much she loves her human mom. I am one who believes that every gesture of kindness, however small it may seem, counteracts the world's evil and inspires more love.
Every shelter animal longs to be loved. Even a little bit of love – a donation of money, a gift of supplies, some volunteer hours – brings kindness and compassion to a lonely, frightened, hurting creature. It doesn't take much effort, but it means the world to animals like Lilo and the humans who love them. Our souls benefit, too.
Click here to donate to McKamey Animal Shelter, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Visit Petfinder.com or seek out a local animal shelter to adopt a pet, donate or volunteer.
In October 2022 Insight Editor Cynthia B. Astle traveled from Dallas, Texas, to volunteer at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. Rescuer and rehabilitator of 22 dogs from Michael Vick's notorious "Bad Newz" dog-fighting kennel, Best Friends takes in dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, pigs and horses, finds them "furever" homes or permanent shelter, and sponsors a nationwide campaign to convert all shelters to "no-kill" by 2025.