Being part of the shelter is the most heartbreaking and heartwarming experience most of us will ever encounter in our lives.

It isn’t easy; no one expected it to be.

So the next question we most often hear is “Why do you do it?”

There are many answers to that question: We love animals.

They are helplessly dependent upon us and have no other advocates. We desperately want to give them a second chance.

We are realistic and acknowledge that we cannot save them all. But we are committed to saving as many as we can.

We are not alone—we have many angels whose donations, small and large, make what we do possible. If you have ever wondered what your donations accomplish, I hope to provide some of those answers in a series of articles of which this is the first. This is the good side. This is why we do what we do with your help.

The good story

We don’t know anything about Jake prior to Oct. 3, 2008. That morning we discovered him in one of the outdoor pens.

Sometime after closing the afternoon before and when our employees arrived this morning, his previous owner had unceremoniously dumped him in an outdoor pen, closed the door, and left him all alone. However, Jake’s “new beginning” began that day.

From the start, Jake managed to capture the hearts of those who work at the shelter.

He was a charming, young, black lab with excellent manners. He already knew the basic commands and was a very friendly fellow. Sadly, Jake’s eye was entropion (inward turning of the eyelid) and he tested positive for heartworms.

But his winning personality made us determined not to give up on Jake as his former family had. Thanks to our angels, Jake’s eye problem was resolved with surgery and he was treated successfully for his heartworm infestation. Now he was “good as new” and ready for us to find him a new forever home.

We work with many rescue groups, and The Dog Squad in Atlanta expressed an interest in Jake. They would keep him in a foster home until the right permanent home could be found. But they were in Atlanta, and Jake was in Bainbridge. What now?

Enter another group of angels—Pilots N Paws, www.pilotsnpaws.org.

These angels have wings and donate their airplanes, fuel, time and talents to help innocent animals by flying them from where they are to where they need to be. Jake became our second friend to be helped by this generous group of pilots and he was flown from Bainbridge to Atlanta, where The Dog Squad placed him in a caring foster home.

But Jake’s story didn’t end there. As had happened here at our shelter, the foster mom fell in love with this wonderful guy. Just two weeks after he came to live with her, on Valentine’s Day, she decided to adopt him. Jake has now truly embarked on his second chance.

There are many more stories that we will share in the coming weeks.

If you would like to help create these happy endings, consider becoming a member of Bainbridge – Decatur County Humane Society, and think about joining our “$10 (or more) per Month Club.” At the beginning of each month, add us to your other monthly bills and send us a check for $10 or any other amount you can spare, and make a difference in the life of some innocent animal. Just mail it to P. O. Box 429, Bainbridge, GA 39818.