“I feel, no, I KNOW my two idiots saved me.” —Robert Glucksman
Her lovable boobies are her dogs, Nala and Bindi. Nala adopted Robert shortly after her old dog died and he was in pain. She took one look at his sad face as she walked through the animal shelter and decided that this human needed to be rescued.
“Every day is another day at the circus with these two clowns,” he laughs. “I think that’s true. We don’t adopt dogs, they adopt us.
Glucksman is one of nearly 400 people in the San Fernando Valley who responded to a touching poem, “Today I Adopted a Human,” posted recently by West Hills’ Helga Rodriguez-Brandt to the site. Nextdoor.
It was written by one of the most prolific writers of all time. Anonymous.
“It broke my heart to see him so alone and confused. I don’t like the smell of sadness. I wanted to jump on him so badly. He spoke to me tenderly, and I knew that I had to rescue him. This human needed me.
“So I barked with all my might, followed him for blocks and blocks. I moved closer, I could feel his hands. The human smiled for a moment and when he hugged me, I began to feel his cold heart warm.
“I approached his cheeks and felt a tear roll down them. I looked at him deeply and his response was a bright smile. I promised to behave well, to love him forever and never leave him.
“How lucky he was to cross that block, down that street, and I feel lucky too. There were so many people walking around, but no one was looking at me. All worried, all in their troubles. Glad no one else chose me.
“Today I saved a life. Today I adopted a human.
These last words should be plastered on the front of every city and private animal shelter in Los Angeles. Come in. We have hundreds of dogs and cats looking for a human to adopt.
Los Angeles Animal Services currently has 1,300 dogs in its overcrowded shelters, with no room for more. It’s such a shame that they’re asking people who can’t adopt to consider fostering for a few days, a week, a month to give the dogs a break from kennel life. To live behind bars waiting for a Robert Glucksman to walk past their cage and catch their eye.
“What have we humans done to deserve dogs? asked a Valley resident, one of 400 people who responded to the poem. Good question.
How many lives have they saved? How many widows and widowers have found comfort in their arms? How many homeless people count on them for their protection and the only love of their sad life?
How many children and families have adopted and empowered, promising to love them forever and never leave them?
What did humans do to deserve dogs?
Robert Glucksman only saw his father, a tough old Marine, cry once. The day his dog died. Twenty years later, Robert mourned the death of his own dog. The grief was unbearable.
Three days later, he went to the animal shelter to appease her. He was not looking to replace his old dog, he could never do it. He just needed to be around dogs that hurt him too.
Nala was lying in her cage when he passed. She could feel the sadness on him. She started barking and barking until he turned around, saw her and smiled. Robert didn’t know it, but he was about to be rescued by a rescue dog.
Today I saved a life. Today I adopted a human.
Dennis McCarthy’s column airs Sunday. He can be reached at [email protected]