Although I am a normal, regular, red-blooded, girl-chasing, steak and potatoes kinda guy I do have my
weaknesses, among which is the salient fact that I cannot resist rescuing any animal I may see along the
road, if I deem it to be abandoned or homeless or otherwise incapable of caring for itself. Another
weakness of mine is that I cannot resist talking about what I do and encouraging others to do the same.
Under ordinary circumstances when I rescue an animal off the streets I deliver it straightway to the Corinth
Alcorn County Humane Society animal shelter. I do this immediately because I know that if I don’t do it right
then the chances that I shall end up keeping the animal and taking it home to live with me at Willow Oak go
up drastically. Besides, you usually can never go wrong delivering an animal to the shelter; the shelter is
equipped to deal with homeless animals better than most of us.
Nonetheless, I tend to make a nuisance of myself among my friends and acquaintances with my oft-told tales
of animal rescue. This especially applies at work where my colleagues there must endure countless hours
of lectures on proper animal care and husbandry, and God bless those people for exercising as much
patience with me as they do. Oh I must endure a few sneers and jeers, and I have been reprimanded by an
acquaintance or two for doing what I do. One person even went so far as to accuse me of giving animal
rights people a bad name. Others have actually accused me of being a bad influence when it comes to
human-animal interaction. "Leave those dogs and cats alone! They aren't bothering you," is something I
hear from time to time.
Having said all of the above it does come as a pleasant surprise when now and then someone who had
previously been coy in his or her disposition towards me rewards my intrusion with an announcement such
as greeted me one day at work, when one of my colleagues -- one of the ones who has laughed at me from
time to time -- sent me an email with a picture attached. “My wife and I have been talking about getting
ourselves a dog. I told her how you were always talking about adopting from an animal shelter so we went
by the shelter [in Memphis] to see what they had. Here is what we brought home.” You can see the picture
below:
Some bad influence, eh? Everyone should be such a bad influence.
Okay, so I was encouraged. This email caused me to redouble my efforts. Yes I tend to make a nuisance of
myself, but there are so many abandoned and stray animals about, and the shelter can only do so much.
Why pay hundreds of dollars for a designer dog when some of the cutest and most lovable animals are at
the shelter? The above picture is a case in point.
I am a software engineer. As such, I work on some pretty hefty source code, which requires a considerable
amount of expertise in logic and sometimes mathematics. Much patience is required and lots of stamina.
Software development, although done indoors in relative comfort, is very hard work. Nerves can get
frayed; stress levels tend to accelerate; and egos can get in the way. In my shop there are three
developers. The other developers and I tend to stay out of each other’s way, and although we are basically
working on the same stuff, we each have our own sphere in which we get our hands dirty; so we don’t have
to cross each other’s path much, but when we do I generally cannot resist making my usual pitch about
rescuing from the shelter.
I know it is annoying. I am like poor Linus talking about the Great Pumpkin. I get laughed at and sometimes
sneered at, ridiculed and made fun of. Some people even go so far as to question my manhood; and, as I
have already mentioned, sometimes I get downright reprimanded. But I don’t let it bother me. Rescuing
animals is what I do, and it is something that needs to be done. But once in a while I do get rewarded. Like
the time I mentioned above and like another day recently when one of my fellow developers stuck his head
into my office and said that he and his wife had been talking about getting a cat. The two had gone to the
Memphis animal shelter to see what was there. They ended up taking home a cat and a dog! The dog they
named Sherlock, and his picture is here:
Okay, so I was encouraged. This email caused me to redouble my efforts. Yes I tend to make a nuisance of
myself, but there are so many abandoned and stray animals about, and the shelter can only do so much.
Why pay hundreds of dollars for a designer dog when some of the cutest and most lovable animals are at
the shelter? The above picture is a case in point.
I am a software engineer. As such, I work on some pretty hefty source code, which requires a considerable
amount of expertise in logic and sometimes mathematics. Much patience is required and lots of stamina.
Software development, although done indoors in relative comfort, is very hard work. Nerves can get
frayed; stress levels tend to accelerate; and egos can get in the way. In my shop there are three
developers. The other developers and I tend to stay out of each other’s way, and although we are basically
working on the same stuff, we each have our own sphere in which we get our hands dirty; so we don’t have
to cross each other’s path much, but when we do I generally cannot resist making my usual pitch about
rescuing from the shelter.
I know it is annoying. I am like poor Linus talking about the Great Pumpkin. I get laughed at and sometimes
sneered at, ridiculed and made fun of. Some people even go so far as to question my manhood; and, as I
have already mentioned, sometimes I get downright reprimanded. But I don’t let it bother me. Rescuing
animals is what I do, and it is something that needs to be done. But once in a while I do get rewarded. Like
the time I mentioned above and like another day recently when one of my fellow developers stuck his head
into my office and said that he and his wife had been talking about getting a cat. The two had gone to the
Memphis animal shelter to see what was there. They ended up taking home a cat and a dog! The dog they
named Sherlock, and his picture is here:
The cat they named Zanne, and there is a wonderful story associated with her. But first, take a look at this
beautiful sweetheart:
beautiful sweetheart:
Have a look at those claws! There is a story behind this animal. Zanne had been at the shelter for several
weeks before my co-worker and his wife went there, and as is the policy of the shelter if an animal is not
adopted in a timely fashion it gets put to sleep. It is a sad thing to take the life of one of God’s creatures,
but quite often it cannot be helped, and sometimes it is unavoidable to do so. However, in the case of
Zanne, my fellow worker said that when he and his wife showed up at the shelter to get the cat, while they
were there the attendant informed them that the cat had been scheduled for euthanization, and would have
already been put down except that the paperwork had been misplaced. The paperwork had only that
morning been found, and they had managed to arrive at the shelter only moments before the cat was to be
put to sleep.
My, my! What a bad influence I am!
weeks before my co-worker and his wife went there, and as is the policy of the shelter if an animal is not
adopted in a timely fashion it gets put to sleep. It is a sad thing to take the life of one of God’s creatures,
but quite often it cannot be helped, and sometimes it is unavoidable to do so. However, in the case of
Zanne, my fellow worker said that when he and his wife showed up at the shelter to get the cat, while they
were there the attendant informed them that the cat had been scheduled for euthanization, and would have
already been put down except that the paperwork had been misplaced. The paperwork had only that
morning been found, and they had managed to arrive at the shelter only moments before the cat was to be
put to sleep.
My, my! What a bad influence I am!
| That Zanne is one lucky cat ..., thanks to my being such a bad influence, and all! |
| A Bad Influence Daniel Taylor |