NATIVE AMERICAN LEGEND

Norval Morrisseau

BRIDGING THE CHASM

    Long ago, the Great Spirit caused the earth to tremble; and a rift appeared separating those of the animal kingdom from their human counterparts. As the chasm grew wider and deeper, all creatures great and small ran in fear, but one. A lone dog paced the edge of the abyss, watching the faces of the people on the other side. At a moment when it seemed the animal would no longer be able to breach the divide–and to the amazement of those gathered;   he jumped!

    He would rather die than be away from the humans he had grown to love.  His bond was strong, but only his forepaws reached the other side. Struggling to pull himself up from the chasm’s edge, human hands lifted him safely to side with the humans. Dogs have sided with us ever since; so goes the Ojibwa (Chippewa) legend.

    This legend plays out daily at animal shelters around the nation and throughout the world. Chain link fencing is now the chasm that divides these animals from the humans they love, and unfortunately some of these animals won’t make it to the other side.

    Its no wonder that in English, dog is God spelled backwards. Dogs unconditional love and loyalty are unsurpassed. Dog owners tend to lead healthier longer lives than those who don’t– and children who are raised in a home with a dog and a cat, tend to have less allergy problems in life.

    Pittsburg County Animal Shelter; located on 1206 North West Street, off of Carl Albert Parkway is open to the public Tuesdays through Fridays from 10am till 5pm, and Saturdays from 10am till 2pm. The phone number is: (918) 423-7803.

    Sandra Hefley is the go to lady to find a loving companion, and adoption is a steal here in McAlester at just $20 as compared with similar shelter rates nationwide. The cost includes spaying or neutering of the animals, all shots and a microchip, to aid in the recovery of the animal if it is ever lost or stolen.

    “I always have our animals checked out by a Veterinarian before being adopted.” Sandra says. “I wouldn’t want anyone to have to deal with a sick animal.”

    “You know, we have been here for six years and regularly advertise in the local paper (McAlester News Capitol) but we still have people telling us they didn’t even know we were here!”

        She explained that each pin has a paper giving a description and estimated age of the animal and most importantly, the date when the animal can be adopted. “Suppose you want an animal that just came in and it doesn’t have a description.” “You can’t just plunk down $20 and say I want that dog; we have to wait and see if the owner comes to claim it.”

    “Sometimes a designer breed comes in, like a dog who went up for adoption last week.” “Nine people showed up at 10:00  all wanting the same dog.”

    “We had them all choose a card, and the high card won.” Everyone was okay with that,” she said,  “but all dogs are first come first served on the day of adoption.” “Sometimes many people claim to want the same dog– and on the day of adoption, no one even shows up.” “We might not adopt out that dog until 1:00 that afternoon!”

    When pressed for a time frame on how long a dog may be up for adoption until it is put down, she says “ I try to keep every dog as long as I can.”–

    “You see how many pins there are here, but a month or more is a long time to keep them pinned up like that.”

    Here are a few of the dogs presently residing at the Pittsburg County Animal Shelter.  This time you will have to be the one to bridge their abyss.

 

City worker Dwayne Smith brings in a reluctant newcomer.

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