The Time Had Come

My name is Glory. I am a pit bull of almost three years. I was born behind bars in an enclosure of about four square meters. We were five brothers, but our owner took the others and put them in a black bag two days after arriving in the world. I don’t know where he took them, but they never came back. I stayed with Mom because the owner’s son thought I was pretty, and they kept me. I remember how Mom called my brothers and looked for them in the corners of the streets, day and night until she gave up.

I was together with Mom for about two months in that place. The owner was very strict with us. He didn’t let us go outside. If we did, he mistreated us and did not give us food for days. One day I was alone because Mom went out for food because the owner didn’t give us food. When I woke up I felt a strong pain in my gut.

When Mom returned, she knew I was dying. She pulled me into her lap to calm me down. When the owner heard that I was crying because my stomach hurt a lot, he came outside. He grabbed me and threw me against the wall. I started to cry more and more, and Mom barked, asking him to leave me there with her.

Days later the man arrived with a black bag in hand. I already knew what was going to happen because I remember when he took my brothers when they were first born. I was very scared because I saw his angry face and he looked into my eyes. I started to run but there was no way out and I couldn’t escape. I kept myself in a corner. He grabbed me and started mistreating me again. He put me in the black bag. I couldn’t breathe anymore. 

He took me in a car and after a long time in the bag, I fainted. When I woke up my head hurt a lot and I didn’t know where I was because it was a ravine full of garbage. In the ravine there were many animals. I was very sad.

Suddenly, through a tear in the bag, I saw people around me, but I couldn’t get out. I started crying. Minutes later a man arrived with two dogs.

“Everything okay?” he asked me. He started to calm me down. “Where is your mom? Why are you here? Who left you here?” he asked.

I wanted him to understand me. “I had a house but my owner was very bad and he made me disappear here. I have no idea where I am now.” 

The man was a very good person. He took me to the vet. They took care of me and they gave me food. They checked me if to see if I had any diseases. I had parvovirus for not having been vaccinated on time.

They finally vaccinated me and took me to an animal shelter where I made many friends. We played with people. They visited us, played with us, and even sometimes they took us for a walk. I was very happy because I could breathe the fresh air. I spent more than a month in the shelter. No one wanted to adopt me because I was sick. People who came only adopted the healthy puppies. I was very sad because no one wanted to give me a home, but I knew my vaccine would help me recover soon and began to hope for a family of my own.

One day the moment came when a couple came to the shelter to visit me. I was feeling great that day and I was completely recovered. They started to play with me. I think they liked me, but then they left. I started to think that they surely had a plan because they really enjoyed playing with me and yes, the next day they arrived with some papers. I knew they were coming for me. I only heard a little, but they were mentioning my name. Then they arrived at my room where I was playing with my friend.

The nice couple took me to their house. I was very excited because finally I was going to be with a family. The time had come. The time to know my home, that place where I will be safe for the rest of my life, where I will have an air conditioned bedroom, where I will have room to run, where they give me the best food that I have had in my life, but especially, where they will respect and love me. And now I am happy with my family where I feel safe all the time.