Written by Hannah Davis, Peak Associate

My name is Tails ‘B’ Wagging Animal Shelter and today has been a bittersweet day. 

You may have guessed it. I am an animal shelter, and over the last few months, something strange has been happening . . . The number of animals I have kept safe while they await their new homes has been slowly but surely dwindling . . . The animals seem to have been taking their little tails out the door faster than they are being brought in! 

Usually, I will have time to get to know an animal well as they sit under my roof, shit on my floors, and sniff around in the corners of my rooms. But it seems that they’ve been swept out the door so quickly after they’ve come in that I’ve barely even had a chance to say hi! 

I miss Hugh the pug, and Weiner the mixed-breed, and Stella the other mixed-breed, and Bonnie the other, other mixed-breed who looked like a husky the size of a corgi with the body composition of a rottweiler.

I also miss Sprinkles, the cat who used to have fleas but doesn’t anymore. I miss the way Sprinkles and the other cats would pee all over my floors and hiss at nothing sometimes.

I miss Skytrain the pigeon, who was named after the SkyTrain station someone found him near. (Skytrain actually left a long time ago when we realized he was just a regular pigeon. But these times are making me feel especially nostalgic). 

I even miss Spaghetti, the rat who would crawl around in my walls. I named him that because he would eat my wires, and wires are essentially rat spaghetti. Like Skytrain, Spaghetti wasn’t even up for adoption, but it seems even he’s found his way into a new home. 

Hank was the last dog to go, adopted today, a crusty little fella who was accepted with open arms and masked faces by a family who I can only assume was smiling. Now I feel particularly empty, but strangely, I hope that I stay empty for a while. I want their homes to be permanent ones. I hope I never see them again. 

In particular I hope they are finding comfort in homes that were ready to take animals in and not just by people indulging in the fleeting urge of having a pet because of some unforeseen extra time at home. I am definitely not referring to any unprecedented event in particular that may have suddenly given a lot of people some extra time on their hands or anything. I am just an animal shelter. I don’t actually know anything. 

My dear animal friends that have been adopted and taken out of my care: I hope you are safe, happy, and I hope I never see you again. 

My name is Tails ‘B’ Wagging Animal Shelter and I approve this message.