His caseworker called, told us where he was. Said his home life was troubled so he left and never went back. It wasn’t that long ago but sometimes even a few months can seem like forever. Even with all the services available nothing hit home. He drifted with the wind and although he was part of the system, no one could reach him. She did all she could, but he was one of many. He was only 18. But she still had hope. And this was her chance. A couple of weeks ago he got a dog from someone else. They were now a team, still alone but alone together. But something about this dog hit home in a way she never could. And this lost 18-year-old now had a purpose, the beginning of a direction. She said he still struggled, but he was using the services available with more inspiration. He cared. Maybe not for himself, but for his dog. What did he need? Food, he needed food. For him, yes, because he was hungry, but most of all, he needed food for his dog. Could we help? And could we do it fast?
We found him where she said he would be and although he didn’t much want to talk with us about himself, he wanted to talk with us about his dog. He had questions about nails and ears and how poop was supposed to look. He even showed us a nearby sample. It looked good. We talked about food and care and how to trim nails. We’ll talk with him again when he needs us; he has our direct phone number.
But the most promising part of this, aside from a super happy little Chihuahua mix that spends part of his time happily riding in a pack cuddled tight to the chest, was that he said he’d called his parents and told them about this dog. Because growing up, he had a dog that he loved, and he wanted them to know that now there was another one. Maybe they’d like to meet him? Yes, they said, they would like to meet him.
We do what we can when we can. Sometimes we never know what that means. But we try. Because it feels good to be a helper.
And this is why we Pongo.
Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. thepongofund.org
(For privacy, dog in photo is not dog noted in story, but another dog who The Pongo Fund helped)