A Christmas Home: A Novel (11 page)

Ed didn’t seem too worried. “With this position your son applied for, we’re talking very manual work—power-washing the concrete floors, scrubbing the walls—stuff like that. Can he do it?”

“That would be easy for him, but his real passion is animals.”

“George, I’ve got to tell you, we’re a large corporate dairy. There is very little interaction with the cows. It’s all very automated these days. Pretty amazing really. Not like the old days. You’d probably enjoy coming out and seeing us. There are computers everywhere.”

“Hmm.” George was not sure what to make of Ed Lee’s observation. He decided it was up to Todd to figure it out. “Well, Todd is excited to work around animals. I guess that’s a plus.”

“Maybe, but he has to understand that our cattle are not like pets at an animal shelter; they are corporate investments. The cows are just like the human workers around here. They have to be productive or they get a pink slip.”

George understood the point. “If you want to interview him, I’ll talk to him about that and make sure he understands.”

Ed thought a moment and then decided to take a risk. The job had been vacant for too long and needed filling. “George, I’d like to at least talk to Todd—you know, help him out if I can. Have him call me and we’ll set up an interview. Of course, I can’t promise anything beyond that.”

At the top of Hayley’s list of essentials for a properly run shelter was a commitment to impeccable cleanliness. All visitors found her shelter to be hospital clean and virtually odorless. Early on she explained to Todd that many people are so offended by animal waste that they will turn around and walk out at the first sign of a fouled cage. Not only did Todd and Hayley take each dog outside every few hours; whenever possible they also cleaned the cages twice daily to remove the inevitable accidents.

In the late afternoon, after Todd had called Laura and thanked her for bringing by his lunch and had cleaned the last cages, Doc Pelot arrived. He puffed on his pipe, causing it to billow smoke like an old steam engine. He joined Todd for their twice-weekly health check on every shelter pet. Halfway through, Hayley joined them. While they were walking down the aisles together, Hayley wanted to develop an agenda for their Friday staff meeting, but before she could bring up the subject, Doc Pelot looked around and asked, “How many critters do we have with us today?”

Hayley checked her inventory sheet. “We’ve been up and down this week. Today, we’re at forty-eight.”

Their capacity was fifty, so Doc Pelot frowned. “You mean we’re practically full?”

Hayley shrugged. “I’m afraid so, but I’ve started to put the word out that we’re no longer accepting any new guests. I’ll run a notice in the paper, but not everyone will see it. I sure don’t look forward to turning anyone away, but what choice do we have?” Hayley looked at the two men as if to say, Don’t blame me!

The vet expanded on the problem. “The shame of it is that most locally funded animal shelters won’t take strays from outside their own jurisdiction, so there will be nowhere else for the animals to go.”

Having no experience with the task of closing a shelter, the three of them spun their wheels for the next half hour and made little progress in generating ideas for further development at Friday’s meeting. Todd tried to support Hayley by suggesting that she turn to her strength. It was her routine for solving every other problem, so Todd assumed it made sense for this one, too. “Should we make a list?”

Doc Pelot liked the idea and tapped his cane twice on the concrete floor like the senior statesman that he was. “This task is too big for us to get our minds around. We need to break down the problem into smaller pieces and get better organized. I’m not too worried about getting the building ready for demolition. That’s not our problem. Let’s just focus on these dogs and cats.”

Hayley started by establishing their time frame. “We have only twenty days until they close us down. In the next few days let’s try to come up with some ideas for pushing adoption rates sky-high.”

She pointed to the kennels. “Ricky, Curly, Dylan, Variable Rate, Sylvester, Freddy Mac, Ranger, Hulk, Bird Dog, and a few others have been hanging around here for a long time. We just might not be able to place every cat and dog on such short notice. I have been calling shelters throughout the region to see if I can find some backup spots. You know, just in case.” She looked over at Todd to gauge his reaction, but he turned his back to her.

Doc Pelot concurred. “That’s all we can do. As far as I’m concerned, we have no other choice. With such a large population, we are going to have to look to other shelters for help.”

Todd remained quiet and started tapping at the side of a cage with his red Converse tennis shoes. Hayley recognized that he was pawing like an anxious horse. She knew why. Even at the risk of aggravating the old vet, she felt it was better to get everything out in the open. “What’s wrong, Todd?”

He turned around to face Hayley and Doc Pelot. This was one of the few areas where the three of them disagreed. In the past they had tiptoed around the problem, but now it had to be addressed head-on. Todd rubbed his nose nervously and then began to pull on a tuft of light brown hair
that jutted out just above his forehead. When he was ready, Todd quit fidgeting, stood tall, and spoke assertively. “I don’t like that idea. I don’t like our dogs and cats going to other shelters.” He paused and took a deep breath. “These other places
kill
their animals.”

Hayley, impressed with his acknowledgment of the reality, though saddened by his blunt reminder, sighed deeply and echoed his concern. “I don’t like it either, but we don’t always have a choice. This time more than ever.”

Doc Pelot looked at both of them and tried to end the debate before it really got going. “Listen, however bad it is putting these dogs in kill shelters, it’s better than asking me to put fifty dogs and cats down on some snowy afternoon because we haven’t found a home for them. That’s what the city has instructed me to do. Now, I’m not going to do it, so you two are going to have to figure out something else. But I say that if we’re lucky enough to find a few shelters willing to help us out, we better not turn up our noses or turn down a helping hand. That’s the way it has to be.”

Todd felt cornered and didn’t know what to do. Still, this option was unacceptable to him. “I’ll find families for all of them.”

“You’re going to have to hurry. Less than three weeks and forty-eight dogs and cats needing homes? That’s a very tall order.” Frustrated, Doc Pelot shuffled off without saying another word. However much Todd, the young idealist,
hoped for the best from the world, it would be Pelot, the old vet, who would be left to deal with a real-world mess.

After Mary Ann got home from Crossing Trails High School, she and George addressed invitations to their annual holiday party, always held on the last Sunday before Christmas. Given the fifty-year history of their event, George suggested to her that it would be easier to send out an announcement when they finally decided
not
to have the party. That would save them a great deal of work.

She rubbed his shoulders to show her gratitude. “Good try, George, but keep writing.”

George brought up his call to Ed Lee.

“Do you think he’s interested in Todd?” Mary Ann asked.

“I don’t think he would have offered to interview him if there wasn’t at least a chance. He said the industry has changed a lot in the last twenty years. He emphasized that it was a big business with lots of computers.”

“That’s obvious, George. What do you think he was really trying to say?”

“I’m not sure,” he hedged, which was a whole lot easier to say than what he suspected Ed Lee meant. There were probably limited opportunities for Todd in a modern, high-tech dairy operation. Still, it was a job, a good place to start.

“When is Todd coming by?”

“Soon. I told him we would put an extra plate out for him and that you were making that tuna casserole he likes.”

“I’ll finish up dinner if you’ll set the table.”

“Deal.”

About twenty minutes later Todd came through the back door, kissed his mom on the cheek, and asked, “So what’s the big news Dad was talking about?”

She pointed to the living room. “Go find out.”

Todd settled into a chair across from his father’s recliner. Christmas sat beside him and Todd tucked his hand into the dog’s collar.

George looked up from the paper. “Hello, gentlemen. How are you?”

“We’re good.”

Todd and Christmas both seemed to stare at George, eager for the scoop. George could tell that after spending the entire day at work with Todd, Christmas was glad to be home. The shelter was a high-energy place for an older dog. A spot by the fireplace suited him just fine. George wondered if it was time for Christmas to retire from his shelter duties with Todd and start taking it easier. He then realized that whether it was time or not, it was about to happen. George felt a little sad about the dog’s advancing age. “You both look good to me, but maybe a little tired.”

Hearing George’s voice, Christmas wagged his tail and got up off the floor. George called the dog over to his side and gave his black fur a good rubdown. The dog
appreciatively nuzzled George with his nose as if to say, Yes, George, I’ve missed you, and I will enjoy taking things a little easier.

Once satisfied that the old dog had been shown the proper respect, George turned his attention to his son. “The reason I asked you to stop by is that I’ve got good news. You’ve got an interview out at the dairy. Ed Lee, that old friend of mine I told you about, wants you to give him a call. Do you think you might like working with cows?”

Todd did not hesitate. “I like cows, but I like dogs better.” Todd then pondered the details. “How much money do I make?”

George put his hand out like a traffic cop. “Whoa, Todd. Not so fast. I said you have an interview. Remember, that just means they’ll talk to you. If they think you’re a good fit, then they’ll offer you a position and tell you the salary.”

“I think I’m a good fit.”

“We’ll see. Most people think they’re a good fit.” George tried to go over the interviewing process with Todd and then, taking Ed Lee’s advice to heart, cautioned Todd about the differences between a shelter and a dairy. “Todd, you need to understand that a corporate dairy is about making money with cows; a shelter isn’t about making money with dogs. The dairy is a business.”

“I like money.”

George tried to make it clearer. “The shelter business is about keeping dogs and cats safe. The dairy business is about making milk. It’s different.” George was not sure
how to explain it any better, but he tried once more. “In a dairy, the cows are like workers that stay for a long time, and in a shelter the dogs are like guests or friends that are staying overnight with you and then going to their new home.”

Todd looked back down at Christmas for reassurance and said, “I’ve already been wondering about not having a job. I think I need to make it work even if a dairy is different from a shelter.”

George assented. “I think you’re right. This might be the best thing on the job menu.” He handed Todd a piece of paper. “Here is his number. Tomorrow, call Ed Lee, set up an appointment time, and see what you think.”