Judge Not

by John Flores

Don’t you look at me so smug
And say I’m going bad.
Who are you to judge me
And the life that I live?
I know that I’m not perfect
And that I don’t claim to be.
So before you point your fingers,
Be sure your hands are clean.- Bob Marley

About 5 weeks ago I pulled a dog named, Mozart, from a high kill shelter. He was minutes away from being put down. Mozart was an owner surrender and it was looking like he would spend his last days in the pound. However, we found an amazing foster for him and we were able to save him. In the animal rescue world, the term “owner surrender” does not sit well with us. We do not believe that there is any solid reason to give up your dog and after the stuff we see and hear on a daily basis, it’s very hard to not automatically judge someone.

Well, about 2 weeks ago, Priceless Pets, received an email from Mozart’s old family saying they wanted their old dog back. I cannot speak for anyone else but myself but I thought to myself there was no way this dog was going back to this family. Why would we give this dog back to them? They dropped their dog off to die in the pound. They were horrible owners and did not deserve this sweet loving dog. However, they were very persistent in wanting their dog back. They had let us know that their previous landlord forced them to get rid of Mozart and that they were moving to a new place. For me, it still wasn’t good enough.

After discussing it with the, Pittie Crew, I started thinking about all the times I messed up or the times when someone had “heard” a story about me and automatically judged me without knowing anything about the situation. I thought about all the times I wish I just had a chance to explain my side. I thought about the times I wish someone would just give me a 2^nd chance. After all, we’re human. We are programmed to make mistakes. We don’t always make the right decision. We think with our hearts when we should be thinking with our brains and vice-versa. After taking all this into consideration, I let Mandy (Priceless Pets Director) know that I thought they should get a chance. She basically let me and fellow Pittie Crew member, Zima, make the call. They had proof that they were allowed to have a “pit bull” in their new home and assuming they pass a home check, why shouldn’t Mozart be allowed to go back to his old family.

I called the daughter on the phone and I could tell she was nervous talking to me. I know this sounds weird but I could literally feel how much she missed her dog while I was talking to her. So I told her that I needed her to come to the Sunday hike and then we would go do a home check at their house, then make our decision from there. I could tell she was nervous as I’m sure she could hear the doubt in my voice but she agreed to everything. When I met her, she was sitting with Mozart and I could tell she had already been crying. I could already see a difference in Mozart and one of the volunteers later told me that as soon as Mozart saw her, he freaked out, in a good way! She couldn’t even get a sentence out to me and her voice already started to crack but she told me the story of what happened. She told me how her landlord bullied her family into getting rid of their dog. She told me how she went to visit him every day he was at the pound up until the day that we pulled him. As soon as she found out he was still alive, she searched and searched until she was led to Priceless Pets. She told me how turning Mozart into the pound was the biggest mistake her family ever made and if she was able to get him back; they would never let him go again. Needless to say, she won me over right there. We still needed to do a home check, though.

So fellow Pittie Crew member, Zima, accompanied me to their house and when we got there they introduced me to Mozart’s best friend. I’m not sure what kind of dog she was but she was little and cute. The home they were moving into was perfect! Zima talked to her parents and all was good! I could tell the entire family was trying to hold back their tears. We let the whole family know that Mozart would be reunited with them as soon as they completed the adoption process. The daughter wasted no time and followed us back to, The Orphanage, to bring home their family member.

I’m so tired of landlords bullying their tenants into giving up their dogs based on their breed and nothing else. It’s unfair and it’s straight up discrimination. These landlords need to know that these people WILL move. More and more people are growing tired of breed discrimination. And trust me; the more people don’t put up with this, it is the landlords who will be on the losing end of this.

And once again, I’ve learned another lesson and been called out on pre-judging people without knowing the entire story. I clearly forgot how many times it’s happened to me and how many times I never got a 2^nd chance. Being in animal rescue, we pride ourselves on giving these animals a 2^nd chance but in this case, it was the humans that needed that 2^nd chance. We all make mistakes. It’s what makes us human, but we also have the ability make things right again. All we need is a chance.

John Flores

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