“I could come straight—”
“No, you’re going to need your faculties, and you’ve driven all night, Leaf. Get some rest, then call me in the afternoon.” She sighed, and Leaf could feel her closing a door. “Look, it’s pretty bad. There’s about seventy or eighty dogs that I’ve seen. They’re mostly large breeds, a lot of shepherds and pit bulls, rottweilers and Dobermans.”
“Shit….”
“That’s not all. By my estimate, and I’m being generous here, they’ll have to put down twenty or so of them anyway, just for health issues. I’d recommend same for about ten of them based on extreme aggression alone. They’ve trained killers here, Leaf. I don’t know what we’ll do.”
“How many of them are puppies?”
“I counted like four pups per litter that I saw, just on average, because I haven’t been able to really take a look. Five litters with small pups. Maybe twenty dogs that are weaned. Then young ones, and maybe another fifteen adults, not counting the mommas of the litters.”
“Jesus, that’s a lot. A huge mess.”
“Yeah. I’ve called contacts in the surrounding states as well. Special rescue groups for these breeds too. By the time you’ve rested, I should’ve been able to narrow down the dogs I’ll take and which ones will stay local.”
“Okay. I’ll be at your place in an hour and I’ll take a few hours, but then I’ll call you.”
“Okay, talk to you then.”
AFTER WAKINGup, Leaf chose to stay at Chay’s large property, making sure everything was ready there, instead of driving to get to the location where they were still loading up dogs that were viable candidates for rehabilitation.
In the end, with all puppies counted, there had been eighty-six dogs total. Twenty-two had been put down on-site by emergency vets called in. Two had been shot by the FBI when they’d found the cellar hidden in a wooded area that the dogs had been guarding.
Leaf tried his best to let go of the hatred he felt for the people that had made life on Earth hell for these poor animals.
When Chay arrived in her “dog mobile,” an old delivery truck that had been converted to move around large numbers of dogs at the same time, she looked bone weary. She was the type of person who radiated alpha dog, despite being probably five feet tall, if that. Her hair was shorn close to her skull, and she wore combat boots and a flannel with jeans. No-nonsense kind of person. Leaf had met her a couple of times before in passing, but never like this.
“Hey, man,” she rasped, even her voice tired.
They hugged quickly, like sympathetic not-quite-friends might do, and Chay swayed on her feet when she let go of him.
“You need food and a nap. Show me what you have back there and where to put them.”
She shook her head as if to clear it and opened the back door. The cacophony of whimpers and barks that had been muted by the thick walls of the insulated, air-conditioned vehicle hit Leaf like a brick.
“So, what I have for you today is three of the adults. They’re all females, possibly pregnant but not showing yet. Timid, but not aggressive. Then there’s five of the young dogs, and they all seem pretty okay. They need feeding, deworming—all that good stuff—and then a week to figure themselves out. I don’tthinkany of these dogs are aggressive, but….”
“But you never know. Okay. I’ll test them with Husky. He’s good at putting kiddos in their place. Go eat.”
“Please tell me Husky is a husky?” she said as she jumped down from the back of the truck and peered up at him.
“Oh yeah. He’s a good boy. Do I put these dogs wherever?” It was pretty empty inside her kennels, so there was definitely space.
“Yeah, just keep them all in the back where they can be sort of quarantined for now. My regular vet will come tomorrow to check them more thoroughly.”
“Did the local shelters take any of the dogs?”
“Yeah, more adolescents, and one pittie rescue took a litter and their mom. All others went out of state.”
“Okay. You go rest now. I have this,” he said, patting her shoulder.
“Alrighty, then. Have fun.” She walked to the small ranch-style house and left him to move the dogs inside.
The young ones were three pit bulls and two rottweilers. They were adorable, enthusiastic puppies, and for now Leaf had high hopes for them. He settled them in kennels that had a connection to a joined run, so they could play together if Chay would agree to that.
The older females were a Doberman, a German shepherd, and a pit bull. They all looked like they’d been bred before, but weren’t that old—each of them looked less than three years of age. Once he got better acquainted with them, he could look at their teeth if the vet wouldn’t do that the next day.
He especially liked the German shepherd. She had long hair and was quite dark in color. She seemed cautious but friendly, and when he gave her a bowl of meat with deworming tablets hidden inside, she ate and wasn’t aggressive at all over her bowl.
