Andy Rankin

Sometimes I wonder what my mission in life is.  Why am I on this earth?  It seems like everyone is here for a purpose.  We all do a lot of things but don’t we all have one thing that we do that seems to be the main point of our existence?  Wow, that’s deep.

My mission in life seems to be stopping to “rescue” stray dogs.  Where I live (the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC) there really aren’t many stray dogs who live on the streets.  When you see a dog running lose with nobody around clearly trying to track it down you can be pretty sure it’s a family pet that has gotten loose.  So, when I see a dog like that I stop and try and help.  I’ve had varying degrees of success - but I always try.  Sometimes the dog won’t let you get close - so I do my best to heard it away from traffic and then I move on.  Other times the dog has no identification - I have taken a couple to the local shelter.  Sometimes it is obvious where the dog belongs, a nearby yard for example, and you can just take them home.  I’ve also found dogs wearing tags, called the owner, and had the dog picked up.

This morning I found two dogs running in the street on Columbia Pike.  They seemed nice and while they wouldn’t let me grab them they were willing to follow me.  We were right next to a house with a fenced yard and since I was in a hurry my plan was to just get them in that yard and then take off and let someone else deal with them (my good deeds apparently only go so far).  The followed me and went into the yard so willingly that I’m fairly sure it was their yard.  I then noticed the Sears delivery truck guy who had opened up the gate across the driveway, I guess to make a delivery.  I asked him if he knew if these dogs had gotten out through the gate, “uh, I guess so” was his response.  Cool dude, way to care.

So, that’s my calling - fetching stray dogs.