Oscar's Journey

Within two weeks of moving to Texas I came down with a major case of homesickness.  I knew I needed to keep myself busy to settle into my new home, and had always wanted to get a dog of my very own.  So I found myself down at Town Lake Animal Center one Sunday, "just to look."  When I saw my furry pooch Oscar, I knew I wasn't going home without a new best friend of the canine variety.

Oscar had been adopted as a puppy from TLAC in 2007. Here is a picture of him and his littermates.

When he came in as a stray in 2009, shelter staff did their best to reunite him with his adopters but every lead simply turned up a dead end. After over a week, they never came to the shelter to look for him. Oscar had been abandoned

After I brought him home and we settled into to the swing of things, I couldn't stop thinking about the rest of the dogs that I had left behind at the shelter.  When the nagging feeling didn't subside, I signed up to become a volunteer.

It's been almost two years since I've signed up to be a volunteer at Town Lake, and I can honestly say that it is just the beginning of a great journey.  Being a part of this community has been so much more than providing relief and attention to the dogs waiting for their forever home.  It has become my passion - being a voice for the companion animals in our great city, and providing them with a second chance when they need it the most.  It's tough work, and it can be an emotional roller coaster, but every time I see one of my foster dogs bound into the car with their new owner and hardly glance back at me, I know it's more than worth it.

So, I’d like to personally thank my little mutt, Oscar the Dog for showing me an opportunity to become a part of something so important, meet some great and wonderful people in Austin, and get to spend some time with some really great pooches!

(Attached is a photo of Oscar from his recent therapy dog graduation from Divine Canines!)

Regards,

Sarah Herman