A Tale of Two Dogs

Do you remember me gushing about this cute little fellow?

Well, today something sad happened to my little bud, Cocoa/Rascal. No, he's not hurt or worse(dead) but it's still gloomy. Today as I was leaving the house and after I gave Cocoa/Rascal a good pat on the head, I thought to myself, "Man, I love that dog. I'll be so sad when he's not around one day." Well, tonight as Cory & I pulled in the driveway from getting dinner I saw little Cocoa in his yard but with a collar on and he was chained up. I looked at Cory and told him what I saw and he said in a soft voice, "Yeah, the Animal Control people came for him today." I was shocked. Cory told me the sad tale of my little friend being in the back of the dog catcher truck today. He saw the people get him as he was leaving for work and went over to tell the people that he knew the owner and such. Cory said that Cocoa was just chilling in the back and looked up at him. He probably thought he was just going for a ride. He's so naive. The Animal people also had my neighbor's other dog that is always chained up in their truck. The man told Cory that dogs in this city have to be chained up and to be within walking distance of shelter and water or they take them. The dog that was chained up was momentarily in the front part of the yard (away from the dog house) at the time. My neighbor lets the dog sit in the front sometimes and it's perfectly fine....Anyway, I seriously got teared up when I saw little Cocoa/Rascal raise his head up and bark once when we walked up the path to our house. I guess I'll have to go and visit him from now on. :( I know this may sound silly, but having him roaming free was like having the benefits of owning a dog but not having to feed it or make sure it had a place to stay when we aren't around.

On a happy dog note, the other dog that I'm obsessed with is coming out with a book this summer! You can pre-order the book here. I can't wait to read about little Boo.

(Photo via Chronicle Books Blog)