Raining Cats and Dogs

Author's Notes: This is just the first draft. Things can, and will change as I edit it a couple of times for brevity, conversations, meaning, story changes, etc.

Raining Cats and Dogs

土砂降り

doshafuri

Chapter 1 - Meetups

David was glad the walk to the animal shelter was short, so he could spend more time on his homework than walking, also it was raining, like usual, in Seattle. As he approached the building, he saw a car throw a box onto the sidewalk and speed off.

“No point in writing down the license plate, cops won’t do shit about it.” He mused out loud. With the homeless situation out of control, crime in general rising, the cops wouldn’t even look at a case of animal abandonment. He knew, because David used to write down all the information and submit reports to the cops, but since nothing ever came of it, he stopped trying. He sighed as he picked up the box. ‘Kittens or puppies? ‘ he asked himself. The box was strangely silent when he picked it up.

He took the box inside the shelter and set it on the front desk. “Hey, Carol, we got another dump and run.”

Carol was the overworked receptionist for the facility. She was very petite, with brown hair and an athletic figure she got from swimming on the University of Washington team. At 157cm tall, she was not physically imposing, but her presence when tasking in surrenders and abandoned animals would make the people dropping off their pets very uncomfortable, and sometimes she even convinced the person dropping off an unwanted pet to reconsider their life choices.

David opened the box to find an emaciated mother and three kittens. “Oh, Carol, this is a bad one. Mother and kittens look like they haven’t been fed in days. Then in a low, guttural growl, “Porra de gente!”

Carol tsked him. “No swearing in Portuguese, David.” She was one of the few people who pronounced his name correctly, Dah-Veed, and not Day-vid. She looked in the box, and you could see her wince. “So sorry mama cat and kittens, things don’t look good for you.” She said, lightly stroking the mama cat’s head. Mama cat made an effort to purr, but it was weak and sickly, like she was. “Could you please take them to the veterinarians’ room in the back? I think that Jake can help her.”

As he walked to the back, he grabbed a warming blanket. Setting the box down gently, he put on rubber gloves and gently took the cats out of the box and laid them on the blanket. Jacob came in at this point, walking at full speed as usual, a whirlwind of energy and purpose. He took one look at the cat and kittens on the table and without changing expression asked “Dave, could you please start an IV on the mother? We’ll get a bolus started and probably some subcutaneous saline when I get back, her kidneys are probably failing at this point.” He gently laid his hand on the cat, “Never mind, David. She didn’t make it. And two of the kittens aren’t breathing, either. I’m sorry.”

“Should I try to feed the last kitten with our kitten bottle?” David asked.

“Dude, you have a big heart. I’m currently in the quiet room with a family saying goodbye to their dog who’s been with their family for 15 years. If the kitten is still alive when I get finished, I will take it back there too.”

“I don’t think that’s an issue anymore, Jacob. The last kitten’s no longer breathing either. He continued angrily, “WHY would someone do this to animals? Porra de Gente! I’ll take them to the crematorium. He looked downtrodden as he put the cats back in the box.

“Hey man, at least their last memories will be of someone putting them on a warm blanket and giving a fuck about them. Sometimes that’s all we can do.”

The door to the reception area opened, and Carol popped her head in. “Daviiiid! We have a person here to do some community service. Could you show them the ropes, por favor?”

David sighed. Yay, another one of those people. They are usually assigned community service because of some animal abuse they committed, so he would have to keep a close eye on them for the duration, to make sure they harm no animal here. What walked in surprised him, though. They were usually male and angry. In walked a redheaded white lady, about 168 cm tall, and with the most beautiful Emerald green eyes. She stared defiantly at David, looking at his jet black hair, his 178 cm height, and the fact that he was built like a farmer, and appeared deeply tanned.

“Take a picture, it will last longer. And close your mouth, that look on your face is not attractive. I’m Misty Doyle. Which one of you is Dave?”

“I-iya I David!” David stammered. “David Sanchez, to be precise. My family is from Brazil, I am a 3rd generation American, and I’m going the U dub on a full ride scholarship. And that is probably more information than needed.”

“College boy, eh? I barely graduated from a Catholic high school, but don’t think I’m stupid because I don’t have your fancy education. I’m here because my ex used one of my heels to kill a cat. I couldn’t prove that I didn’t do it, but here I am. If I could have afforded a lawyer instead of the stupid public defender that I got it would’ve been different. Whatcha got in the box?”

He was immediately drawn back to the box of deceased cats. “Just some kitties who didn’t make it.  If you’re ready I can show you to the crematorium. You will spend an inordinate time walking there, sadly.”

She looked in the box “What the actual fuck? Who would do this to some poor cats? How did they get here?”

“Some asshole just dumped them out front. I’m Jacob. Jake to my friends. I’m working my way through my veterinarian classes. Figured working here would give me some exposure. But now I have to go the quiet room and do my job. See you around!”

“OK, Misty. Can I call you Misty? She nods, and he continued “First rule is that whenever you are touching an animal you put on gloves. This is to prevent you from getting diseases, fleas, etc. but it’s so that we don’t cross contaminate the animals. If you touch one that has ringworm, you could spread it to any animal that is susceptible.But for now…David grabs the box, since I am already gloved up I will carry the box, and you can just follow me.”

“All right.”

They walked through the shelter, passing the dog cages, the cat cages, the miscellaneous cages with turtles and rats and snakes, until they reached the back door. Misty was wrinkling her nose at the smell.

“I recommend you brace yourself, Misty. This sight is very gruesome if you’re not used to it. I will never get used to it, myself.” He then opened the door.

As he opened the door, she gasped, and whispered “What the actual fuck?” there were two rolling plastic dumpsters filled with deceased dogs and cats, all dead. Blood was dripping onto the concrete from one of the dumpsters. David upended his box into the less full one, broke the box down and put into the cardboard recycling dumpster.

“Sorry to shock you, but since the shelter is beyond full, today was a rough day for euthanizing. The quiet room has been busy all day. The dogs and cats that are considered “too old”, animals with severe illnesses, and sadly those animals who have been here the longest. Carol, Jacob and myself take turns pulling the list, and we spend as much time as possible with the animals before we take them to the quiet room, sometimes we’ll have some nice canned food for them, but we usually don’t have budget, and depend on buying it ourselves, and some will get donated to us.” He was visibly upset as he was saying this.

Jacob entered with a pushcart, covered by a plastic sheet. “Well, Hank went peacefully surrounded by his family. Poor fella got kidney disease and the family didn’t have the money to treat it. At least he lived a long life with a loving family.” He gently picked up the dog from the cart, and placed him in a cubby. “The family wants their dog’s ashes. At least they could afford that much.”

Misty spoke up and very quietly asked “You guys do this EVERY day? That’s…too sad.”

David saw a small tear roll down her cheek, his gut telling him she was innocent of hurting an animal, and was immediately in love.