WELLINGTON

That day was super stressful for me but strangely it’s the first time I felt safe, don’t ask me why, I just did. I arrived at a place full of animals just like me; they called it the ARC. My room was great, I couldn’t believe my luck! I had lots of toys, a comfy bed, and even heated floors! It was like they had designed it just for dogs…amazing. I have to say the room service was good too, new bedding and my bathroom cleaned daily, and five-star food. The mini bar was lacking though, it was either water or water!

I got to go out on walks twice a day, which was scary at first because I’d never done it before, but the more I walked the more confident I became and I soon got used to dragging humans around on a lead! I had some days away from the rescue centre too, but they do need to work on their excursion packages. One day I thought I was going to East Park chippy; turns out I was wrong, apparently a ‘microchip’ isn’t a puppy size meal!

Anyway…this is where it gets better. One day a man came to visit me, I thought his shoe looked interesting, so I sat on it! And why not, after all I am a dog. He picked me up, and gave me the biggest hug and I felt so safe. He must have liked me because he came back to see me again, and yes, I sat on his shoe…humans never learn!

Now, I told you my life wasn’t the best at the start, but now I have a family of my very own. My life really did change when that nice lady picked me up in that big white van. I am now confident and I feel loved. In fact, I was given my very own shoe to chew…actually, it turns out I was wrong about that, but never mind, my human has plenty others. I now know the ARC stands for the Animal Rescue Centre. It must have a good foundation because I heard it was a million pounds to build, now that is heavy! The nice people there are RSPCA staff and volunteers, and they are just pawsome (see what I did there). It must cost them a fortune to run that place, especially with the five-star meals and microchipping excursions. Thankfully, they have volunteers who give their time for free and a community of people who support them.

I hope those humans keep supporting the ARC, because it sure did help me!