| Boetie's g.g.g.g.g.g.g.grandson,
Billy
by Elizabeth Akers, Rescue Coordinator
Billy was scared as he felt the movement of
the truck underneath him. He had never been in a truck before,
nor had he been shoved into a small box-like thing before.
There was a nasty smell of something, he did not know what,
but it hurt his nostrils, and made his eyes water. Billy sat
huddled in the back of his crate while the truck lumbered
on through the night. It was very dark. He was very scared.
He was also hungry and tired, lonely and cold, and he whimpered
softly as he tried to lie down and make himself comfortable.
The fumes from the truck made him ill.
Billy dozed fitfully - he dreamed about his
mommy and his brothers and sisters. He did not know his daddy.
He only knew the small run he had been born and raised in
all his short life. He had played with his siblings, chewed
on his mommy's ears and tail and generally had short memories
of his life with his family.
Few of these memories would stay with Billy,
but those that did were very sharp. After a long time, Billy
had to go to the bathroom, he had no where else to go but
in his crate. He tried so hard to stay in the one corner of
his crate away from the soiled area. Sometimes, though, the
truck would move suddenly, or stop quickly, and Billy would
slide around the crate. Soon he was wet and smelly, but he
had no place to lie that was clean and dry. When the truck
finally stopped and the doors opened, Billy screwed up his
eyes against the bright light. Some hands pulled at his crate
and rough voices told how upset they were at the soiled crate.
Billy just lay there with his eyes closed.
Billy was carried into a room and taken out
of the crate, his legs were so stiff and sore. He was very
hungry and thirsty, but nobody gave him food or water. Soon
something cold was put under his tail, oh, how afraid that
made him. He lay there shaking. Hands held up his ears, felt
in his mouth and a cold piece of metal was put against his
chest. Something wet was rubbed all over him, and he found
the smell was not so strong now. Billy tried to open his eyes
to take a peek, but he was so tired and he felt so weak, he
just lay there.
Billy was then taken put into in a cage. There
was newspaper on the floor and a bowl of tepid water. He drank
until there was no water left in the bowl. Soon a bowl of
food was put in the cage and Billy sated his hunger. He lay
down and went to sleep. He missed his brothers and sisters,
but he could not stay awake any more to think about them.
He was so tired and scared.
The next morning a person came and took out
the papers and put new ones in their place and gave him more
food and some fresh water. Billy started to feel a bit more
comfortable. Then suddenly a pair of hands swooped into the
cage and picked him up by the scruff of his neck, ouch, that
hurt, and they dumped him into the arms of a person who stroked
him, cooed to him and petted him. He was not sure he liked
that and squirmed to get away from the touching. He was dumped
back into the cage. For the next several hours, people came
and picked him up, put him down, poked at him,. prodded him,
and generally made him nervous and more scared.
Billy stayed in the small cage for several weeks.
His head touched the top of the cage and he felt cramped because
he could not move much, but still people came and took him
out of the cage and petted him. He continued to be scared
and nervous.
One day a person picked him up and carried him
outside. He was very scared now as this was new and had not
happened to him before. He was put inside a car and he felt
again that strange scary movement. He scuttled downwards,
to the dark floor of the car. There he huddled, shaking and
scared. He was picked up again, and carried into a house.
He had not been inside one before and he was so nervous he
piddled on the floor. He heard a scream from the person and
he was quickly but roughly tossed outside into a grassy and
gravel place. He stayed where he was, he was scared to move
in case something horrid happened to him again. Soon, a young
person came and sat near him and tried to play with him. Billy
did not know what playing was so he huddled closer to the
ground and stayed put. The young person tried to pull on his
collar but Billy did not know what was happening and he growled
a little trying to show how scared he was, but the young person
just swatted his face and then put him back on the ground.
Billy's face stung from the swat, but he lay very still so
no one would see him. A short while later Billy was again
picked up and a chain was clipped to his collar. He was taken
to the end of the yard where there was some water in a bucket,
some food nearby and a big wooden box. This is where Billy
stayed for the next few years. The young persons sometimes
teased him with sticks, they threw rocks at him and laughed
when he yelped as one hit him in the side, or on the nose.
They would kick him and laugh when he cowered and tried to
get away, but that chain was only so long and he had no place
to hide.
One day Billy woke up to a lot of noise and
commotion. He barked and jumped about at the end of his chain.
Nobody paid any attention to him. Soon, all was quiet and
Billy sat alone watching for he knew not what.
There was no food for Billy that night, and
just a small amount of water remained in his bucket. He woke
up hungry and drank the last of the water. He lay down to
nap and wait for his dinner. There was no dinner that night
and no more water.
Billy barked every now and then, he grew weaker
and sadder. He finally lost all hope of dinner. He fell asleep
and dreamed of a soft hand stroking his flank, a warm voice
talking to him quietly, a nice bowl of dinner was close and
he was able to eat without fear. He dreamed of things his
ancestors dreamed about. Grass, rivers, warm sunshine, big
buck, lion and cheetah, although Billy could not know what
he was truly seeing, it all seemed "right" to him in his dream.
He dreamed he was being taken to a lovely place where it was
warm and it smelled safe. He dreamed he was put onto something
fluffy and soft and the voice talked and the hand stroked.
He slept a long, long time. Billy woke up and found that he
had not dreamed the soft fluffy bed, nor the quiet voice.
The voice talked to him and the hand stroked him again and
again. It felt so good! He was happy to just lie still and
wallow in this wonderful soft and safe feeling. He slept again
and later woke feeling alert to what was happening around
him. There were other dogs there, ones he did not know, they
were not his brothers and sisters, but they all shared something
in common. They were all as scared as he was. They all had
been abused. He listened to the whimpers and cries of the
hurting dogs and he was grateful that he had woken to the
soft touch of this quiet person. He hoped the other dogs had
soft hands and quiet voices to help them through their pain.
Billy was taken home to the person with the
quiet voice and the soft hands. He understood in a way, that
he was going to live here forever. He also understood that
this person was different from all the others he had met in
his life. This person would love him, and care for him always.
He understood that this quiet person would never allow anyone
to throw rocks at him, to kick him or hurt him in any way.
Billy knew at last he was safe.
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The Boetie Stories
Boetie is the creation of Elizabeth Akers.
He is a brave young ridgeback who is at wonder at the world
around him. He has many adventures and is the originator of
many ridgeback characterics. He and his siblings will show
you what ridgebacks are all about.
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