The following is a very special blog. Act now if you want a friend for life.
Take Me as You've Found Me:
The Autobiography of Gordie Sobaka
YOU DON'T KNOW what it is like to be given a pig's ear. You wouldn't know the juicy, succulent, salty crackle it gives when you crunch it in your mouth. I go bananas for pig's ears. It's like you've just given me drugs. I'll run around the yard with it, leave it, then pounce on it in a surprise attack. Haha! Stupid pig's ear! You can't run from me! I will devour you!
But here comes Marz, he is calling me. He holds something behind his back. A treat? Another pig's ear? Is it possible for a dog to have two pig's ears in one day? Oh boy! Oh boy, it could be! Doggie nirvana! Two pig's ears...
Hey.
Hey wait a minute.
He has tricked me! He lured me in but was holding nothing, and now he has stolen my pig's ear! Damn you Marz! Damn your trickery! Damn your laughing and running around the yard! I will chase you and get my pig's ear back! Haha! I am so happy!
My name is Gordie Sobaka. I was born in the SPCA animal shelter in Wellington, New Zealand, an orphan dog, along with my siblings Jamie, and Nigella. We were each named after famous chefs.
I spent the first four months of my life there with the other dogs. I remember the cages, the confined spaces, the treats, the playtimes. I watched many kind people come into the shelter. Sometimes they would walk past me, sometimes they would stop and pet me, sometimes their children would pull on their parents legs and say that they wanted to take me home before walking on. I watched lot's of other dogs leave during my time in the Shelter. I wondered where they went, surely to a better place I thought, a place where they would belong.
Four months later I would find out. A family said that they wanted me and would take me. All of a sudden I was in a home. I was played with and walked regularly. I went swimming! I ran on beaches! Through forests! I had a family and LOVED my family. But after 2.5 years they had to leave and I didn't know why. They were flying on an aeroplane and not coming back. I couldn't go with them and ended up back in the animal shelter.
Then I met Liz.
Gordie loves Liz!
She has the kindest, most beautiful eyes. She plays rough with me and takes me out and I lick her face. She took me out of the Shelter and I started living with her brother and his partner, but eventually they too needed to catch a plane and although wanting to keep me, couldn't take me with them. It was Liz's brother and partner who gave me my surname. Sobaka. It's Russian for 'dog'. This is what I am: Gordon Sobaka.
When Liz's brother and partner left I moved back in with Liz. Liz is the best person in my whole entire world. I love Liz so much that I would do anything for her! It breaks my heart that she is not able to look after me because she too will be soon catching a plane. I know she wants to keep me but can't, so the SPCA in Wellington take me back and I'm in cages again with the other lonely dogs. People pet us and comment on how cute we are but no one wants to take us home. One day the Wellington shelter runs out of room and I get taken in a van to Waihi.
In Waihi a foster home is found. My new masters have big cars, motorbikes and four other dogs. When I arrive at their house, the dogs think that I am intruding on their territory. They don't like me and don't make me feel welcome. I am scared in this new house and everything stresses me out. I was not meant to have been sent to a home with other dogs. Those were the instructions the Wellington SPCA had given the one in Waihi. I was fragile and vulnerable. A beautiful and loving dog but one that needed to be loved exclusively. Out of fear I made a bad decision and fought one of the other dogs that tormented me. This led the motorcycling owners to complain about me and take me back to the shelter. I was deemed a bad dog. They pencil me in for lethal injection.
Day's before my death a lady comes into the SPCA in Waihi and decides to take me for a while so the shelter isn't overrun with dogs. They tell her about how I had been a bad dog in my last foster home but she sees how cute and timid I am in the shelter and decides to take me anyway. She discovers that I am a really good dog and tells the Waihi SPCA staff this when she takes me back. She says that it would be a travesty for such a good dog to be put down and because of this, my life is spared.
Next thing I'm on an aeroplane.
I have no idea where it is taking me. Was I going to see my previous owners? Was I to be reunited with one of my old families? I didn't know whether to be excited or afraid in the cage on the plane. I looked at the other dogs who also questioned their fate while being deafened by engine noise and sliding around in the cargo hold. Upon landing we are taken in a van. I smell the air and it is familiar. I was in Wellington again and once back at the SPCA shelter I see Liz!
Liz is so happy to see me! The joy on her face is like no other's. She pets me and hugs me and I lick her face as she explains how she had thought I was dead and how she had cried for days. She takes me to Dunedin because she is going to see her parents for Christmas. She hopes that I would find a home down there but nothing eventuates. Not wanting to send me back to an SPCA, her friends adopt me in Christchurch but it is only temporary as they already have a dog and the home is not suitable.
And then the ground began to shake.
The buildings began to crumble.
Everywhere I looked was destruction and panic.
I was transferred back to Wellington. To Liz.
She welcomed me into her cool new flat in Newtown and so did her flatmates Dan, Jess, Marz, and Ken. This is where I am now. I get so many walks and so much attention! Liz's friends come by during the day and take me for walks as well. The cast is epic! Everyone plays with me, they pet me, hug me, and love me. They all want to keep me but the sad thing is, no one is able to. Soon Jess will catch a plane, then Marz and Ken will catch a plane, then Liz will catch a plane. Everyone I love is either catching a plane or can't have me. I bark at the aeroplane and at the constant arrivals and departures in my life. I want something permanent. I want a love that never leaves. I want a permanent home.
Ken takes me on a run everyday he is around. My favourite run is the one past the zoo and up a mountain to a point on the ridge named after an extinct flightless bird. From there you can see all of southern Wellington and - on a clear day - across to the South Island. We watch the planes take off and land, the ships go in and out, and feel the wind on our faces. Here, Ken rests and pets me as I sniff around in the grass.
Everyone wants me and I want them.
I'm a good, loyal, obedient dog. I will sit, lie down, and shake hands on command. I will lick your face at every opportunity. I will love you unconditionally if you commit yourself to me and love me.
Come say hello.
Take me as you find me.
My name is Gordie Sobaka.
Don't leave me to die.
If anyone would like to meet Gordie, get hold of Liz, Marz, or Ken, or come pay him a visit at 27 Hiropi St Newtown.
Alternatively you can write to Gordie and friend him on Facebook. Search for: Gordie Sobaka. He is the only one.
Befriend Gordie on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002180585920&ref=ts
Take Me as You've Found Me:
The Autobiography of Gordie Sobaka
YOU DON'T KNOW what it is like to be given a pig's ear. You wouldn't know the juicy, succulent, salty crackle it gives when you crunch it in your mouth. I go bananas for pig's ears. It's like you've just given me drugs. I'll run around the yard with it, leave it, then pounce on it in a surprise attack. Haha! Stupid pig's ear! You can't run from me! I will devour you!
But here comes Marz, he is calling me. He holds something behind his back. A treat? Another pig's ear? Is it possible for a dog to have two pig's ears in one day? Oh boy! Oh boy, it could be! Doggie nirvana! Two pig's ears...
Hey.
Hey wait a minute.
He has tricked me! He lured me in but was holding nothing, and now he has stolen my pig's ear! Damn you Marz! Damn your trickery! Damn your laughing and running around the yard! I will chase you and get my pig's ear back! Haha! I am so happy!
My name is Gordie Sobaka. I was born in the SPCA animal shelter in Wellington, New Zealand, an orphan dog, along with my siblings Jamie, and Nigella. We were each named after famous chefs.
I spent the first four months of my life there with the other dogs. I remember the cages, the confined spaces, the treats, the playtimes. I watched many kind people come into the shelter. Sometimes they would walk past me, sometimes they would stop and pet me, sometimes their children would pull on their parents legs and say that they wanted to take me home before walking on. I watched lot's of other dogs leave during my time in the Shelter. I wondered where they went, surely to a better place I thought, a place where they would belong.
Four months later I would find out. A family said that they wanted me and would take me. All of a sudden I was in a home. I was played with and walked regularly. I went swimming! I ran on beaches! Through forests! I had a family and LOVED my family. But after 2.5 years they had to leave and I didn't know why. They were flying on an aeroplane and not coming back. I couldn't go with them and ended up back in the animal shelter.
Then I met Liz.
Gordie loves Liz!
She has the kindest, most beautiful eyes. She plays rough with me and takes me out and I lick her face. She took me out of the Shelter and I started living with her brother and his partner, but eventually they too needed to catch a plane and although wanting to keep me, couldn't take me with them. It was Liz's brother and partner who gave me my surname. Sobaka. It's Russian for 'dog'. This is what I am: Gordon Sobaka.
When Liz's brother and partner left I moved back in with Liz. Liz is the best person in my whole entire world. I love Liz so much that I would do anything for her! It breaks my heart that she is not able to look after me because she too will be soon catching a plane. I know she wants to keep me but can't, so the SPCA in Wellington take me back and I'm in cages again with the other lonely dogs. People pet us and comment on how cute we are but no one wants to take us home. One day the Wellington shelter runs out of room and I get taken in a van to Waihi.
In Waihi a foster home is found. My new masters have big cars, motorbikes and four other dogs. When I arrive at their house, the dogs think that I am intruding on their territory. They don't like me and don't make me feel welcome. I am scared in this new house and everything stresses me out. I was not meant to have been sent to a home with other dogs. Those were the instructions the Wellington SPCA had given the one in Waihi. I was fragile and vulnerable. A beautiful and loving dog but one that needed to be loved exclusively. Out of fear I made a bad decision and fought one of the other dogs that tormented me. This led the motorcycling owners to complain about me and take me back to the shelter. I was deemed a bad dog. They pencil me in for lethal injection.
Day's before my death a lady comes into the SPCA in Waihi and decides to take me for a while so the shelter isn't overrun with dogs. They tell her about how I had been a bad dog in my last foster home but she sees how cute and timid I am in the shelter and decides to take me anyway. She discovers that I am a really good dog and tells the Waihi SPCA staff this when she takes me back. She says that it would be a travesty for such a good dog to be put down and because of this, my life is spared.
Next thing I'm on an aeroplane.
I have no idea where it is taking me. Was I going to see my previous owners? Was I to be reunited with one of my old families? I didn't know whether to be excited or afraid in the cage on the plane. I looked at the other dogs who also questioned their fate while being deafened by engine noise and sliding around in the cargo hold. Upon landing we are taken in a van. I smell the air and it is familiar. I was in Wellington again and once back at the SPCA shelter I see Liz!
Liz is so happy to see me! The joy on her face is like no other's. She pets me and hugs me and I lick her face as she explains how she had thought I was dead and how she had cried for days. She takes me to Dunedin because she is going to see her parents for Christmas. She hopes that I would find a home down there but nothing eventuates. Not wanting to send me back to an SPCA, her friends adopt me in Christchurch but it is only temporary as they already have a dog and the home is not suitable.
And then the ground began to shake.
The buildings began to crumble.
Everywhere I looked was destruction and panic.
I was transferred back to Wellington. To Liz.
She welcomed me into her cool new flat in Newtown and so did her flatmates Dan, Jess, Marz, and Ken. This is where I am now. I get so many walks and so much attention! Liz's friends come by during the day and take me for walks as well. The cast is epic! Everyone plays with me, they pet me, hug me, and love me. They all want to keep me but the sad thing is, no one is able to. Soon Jess will catch a plane, then Marz and Ken will catch a plane, then Liz will catch a plane. Everyone I love is either catching a plane or can't have me. I bark at the aeroplane and at the constant arrivals and departures in my life. I want something permanent. I want a love that never leaves. I want a permanent home.
Ken takes me on a run everyday he is around. My favourite run is the one past the zoo and up a mountain to a point on the ridge named after an extinct flightless bird. From there you can see all of southern Wellington and - on a clear day - across to the South Island. We watch the planes take off and land, the ships go in and out, and feel the wind on our faces. Here, Ken rests and pets me as I sniff around in the grass.
Everyone wants me and I want them.
I'm a good, loyal, obedient dog. I will sit, lie down, and shake hands on command. I will lick your face at every opportunity. I will love you unconditionally if you commit yourself to me and love me.
Come say hello.
Take me as you find me.
My name is Gordie Sobaka.
Don't leave me to die.
If anyone would like to meet Gordie, get hold of Liz, Marz, or Ken, or come pay him a visit at 27 Hiropi St Newtown.
Alternatively you can write to Gordie and friend him on Facebook. Search for: Gordie Sobaka. He is the only one.
Befriend Gordie on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002180585920&ref=ts
that is such a sad story i wish i could have Gordie but i already have a dog :( i REALLY hope he finds a loving family :)
ReplyDeleteanother masterpiece, Ken! Love the bit about Gordie and the Chch quake too.. Poor Gordie! I hope this will be a better year for him.
ReplyDelete