I remember when you brought me home. You thought I was adorable and you couldn't get enough of my sloppy kisses! I wagged my tail endlessly, jumped as high as I could and ran in circles chasing my tail when any of you came home. I heard the family discussing what they wanted to name me, but since I was a girl the names were limited to sweet and clever ones. There were no suggested Butch, Sergeant, or Mac so I was destined to be a Peanut because of my size and brown coat. The kids argued over who would sleep with me. There was even discussion of a rotation schedule so that it would be fair and evenly distributed. Everyone promised to take care of me by feeding me and cleaning up after me. I had it made! You really loved me then. I was your little Peanut.

I know when your love started to fade. It was when the big one we all called Dad stepped on a pile of my poo on his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I did that before we all went to bed knowing one of you would clean it up on your way to brush your teeth just before you scooped me up and took me into your room to snuggle with me under the covers. I know you saw it because you said something to me about being a bad girl. That was the beginning of breaking the many promises you made to care for me. Soon Dad was losing his temper and threatening to get rid of me if everyone around the house didn't start chipping in and taking care of me.

It was the teenaged girl with the pretty blonde hair that made the final mistake. She was running late and she left the house still talking on her cell phone without giving me a thought. She forgot to let me out into the backyard for the day. It wasn't my fault because I tried to get her attention by barking and scratching at the back door, but she just kept talking on the phone. She got into a waiting car and drove away. After she was gone I thought what the heck and began to nose around the house and enjoy myself. After all I am still a puppy! I first tore up a favorite doll in the baby's room given to the baby by a now departed grandma. While there I felt the urge and left a real cool amount of liquid on the hardwood floor that could hardly be seen, but unfortunately it soaked in and left a stain on the wood, then into Dad's room and into the closet. Oops another urge, having learned my lesson I hid this one in a shoe and chewed on another shoe because I was getting bored. How could I have known these shoes were Dad's favorites, and of course I have now ruined two pairs of shoes!

After about four hours of such fun things as unrolling the toilet paper in all the bathrooms, dragging underwear, ties and socks everywhere, I decided to take a nap. I was soon rudely awaken by Dad when he came home saw the mess and discovered I had been left in the house. Dad scooped me up and soon I was in the car and going for a ride with him. I loved riding in the car and eagerly got onto his lap so I could see out the window. I was happily surprised that he still wasn't mad at me, but was trying to bond with me by driving me out to the country. We went to a dead end road near the creek where he got me out and set me on the ground. What fun I was having! I romped around running in circles and chasing every lizard I could scare up until soon I realized Dad had driven away and forgot me. I ran after him down the road barking, but he was going faster than I could run to keep up and other cars were now coming up the road and swerving to miss me. Scared I was going to be hit I quickly turned back to where Dad forgot me and hid under a tree barking to let Dad know where I was when he realized his mistake and came back for me. I was sure that he would turn right around when he realized it, but soon my bark got weaker and I began to whine because my throat was now sore.

Night started to fall and it was getting cold. I was getting hungry, but there was nobody around to feed me, love me, or argue who gets to sleep with me tonight. There were other dogs howling down near the creek and they scared me with their yelping. I had never heard a dog yelp that way and it seemed as if there were thousands of them just a few yards from where I was waiting! They didn't sound very friendly so I didn't call out to them. After dark had fallen fully a car pulled up and I could hear loud music and laughing. They are back I thought outloud and I ran from the brush where I had been hiding from the howling dogs. I ran towards the car. The young people in the car were now outside of the car and throwing bottles into the creek and laughing loudly when they heard the glass break on a rock and fall into the flowing creek. When one of them saw me he threw a bottle at me and laughed louder than before! I ran towards where I had been hiding and when I looked back I noticed the teenaged girl with the pretty blonde hair. I thought she saw me! I wondered if she still loved me and came to take me home! The man she was with threw another bottle towards me and they all laughed and got back into the car. They drove away fast, throwing gravel into the brush as their tires spun in the loose dirt shoulder. I was alone again. Me a small female Chihuahua left at the end of a road to fend for myself. How did this happen when all of them promised to care for me and love me. I never stopped loving them. Why did they stop loving me?

The next day another dog, a mix of some sort, was left by the side of the road just like me. His name was Mike and he promised to care for me. He said we would be just fine if we stuck together. Days passed and many people came to the end of that road. Some left food for us, but we were so afraid of people by now we didn't realize some were trying to help us so we hid until they left. Together we learned to survive, but each day we were there at the end of the road we got weaker and more skittish of humans. The howling dogs were getting closer each night and the cars came and went leaving behind their messes. We were both so defeated! As determined as we were to survive, we both could see our days were numbered. Why did our families stop loving us? We never stopped loving them! Why did they abandon us?

There has been and increase in the “dumping” of small dogs in the rural areas surrounding Fillmore in the past couple of months. One single dumping included five young small dogs! Three were rescued by caring residents and either kept as pets or taken to Dog Rescues. The fate of the other two is not known. Rather than dumping these loyal pets you are encouraged to call, stop by, or email the Humane Society of Ventura County, 402 Bryant St, Ojai, 805-646-6505, animals@humanesocietyvc.org. They will care for these loving creatures until they are found good homes. Another resource is AM Pet Supply and Grooming, 341 Central Ave, Fillmore, 524-7387. AM Pet Supply and Grooming has been very generous in rescuing and placing abandoned pets. As of this writing Peanut and Mike are still living at the end of that road and residents are trying to care for them so that they can be taken into good homes. That is if they become trusting enough to be rescued! A cold rain has started to fall in and around Fillmore as Peanut and Mike snuggle to stay warm and dry under the brush. Please don't abandon unwanted pets!