Pet Disasters by Claudia Mills Read Free Book Online

they were thinking: it was time for pet number four! Plus, his parents loved doing good in the world: drying clothes on a clothesline, picking up litter in the park, donating used clothes to the needy. And who could be needier than a dog with only three legs?
    “I don’t want a dog,” Mason said, too loudly. He didn’t want a dog even more than he hadn’t wanted a goldfish, a hamster, or a cat.
    He didn’t want to walk a dog.
    He didn’t want dog breath in his face.
    He didn’t want dog drool on his clothes.
    He didn’t want to pick up dog poop in a plastic bag and carry it back home again.
    “He won’t be your dog,” Brody begged. “He’ll be my dog, all completely mine, but he’ll have to live at your house. Because of my dad’s allergies.”
    “What if you’re allergic to dogs, too, the way you were allergic to cats?” Mason asked him.
    “I’m not sneezing,” Brody pointed out. “Look. Myeyes are fine, and my nose isn’t running.”
    Brody stood up tall and turned his head from one side to the other, as if to display his allergy-free eyes and nose.
    It was true. Why couldn’t Brody have been allergic to dogs, rather than to cats? If Mason had to have a pet—and he still wasn’t sure why he had to have a pet—at least Cat didn’t have bad breath, didn’t drool, and didn’t go to the bathroom out in public for all the world to see.
    “Mom,” Mason said, trying not to raise his voice. “Dad. Apparently you two haven’t noticed, but I’m not what you might call a pet person.”
    “He’ll be
my
pet,” Brody interrupted. “
I’m
a pet person.”
    “But, Mason,” his father began, “your mother and I just think it would be so good for you—”
    “But
I
think it wouldn’t be good for me! I already had a pet. Three pets. What more do I have to say to make you understand? I. Am. Not. A. Pet. Person.”
    The lady from the front desk came walking up behind them. She must have had a sixth sense for when a family was starting to weaken.
    “Are you interested in Duke?” the lady asked.Apparently, Duke was the name of the dog with three legs.
    “Maybe,” Mason’s father said, just as Mason said, “No.”
    “Would you like me to bring Duke to the Meeting and Greeting Place? We don’t close for another hour, and you can take your time getting to know each other.”
    To Mason’s surprise and relief, Brody shook his head. But then Brody said, “We’ve already meeted and greeted. And he already loves me and I love him.”
    The lady gave Brody another fond smile before she turned back to Mason’s parents.
    “I don’t mean to put any pressure on you,” the lady said. “We certainly don’t want anybody adopting one of our animals if they don’t feel ready to make the necessary commitment. But if you think you might want to give this fellow a home, you’ll need to take him with you fairly soon.”
    “Why?” Brody asked.
    The lady looked over at Brody and hesitated. But then she went on, “Well, he’s been here for several months. And because of our limited space in thisfacility, we have a policy that if animals aren’t adopted within a reasonable length of time because of some health concern or physical ailment, they have to be euthanized.”
    Mason hoped that didn’t mean what he thought it meant.
    “Put to sleep,” the lady said softly.
    Brody gave a piercing wail. “Did you hear that?” Brody asked Mason. “If he’s not adopted, he’s going to be
put to sleep
. To sleep where he won’t wake up. Killed!”
    Brody was crying. The dog with only one front paw reached his paw out through the bars of the cage again, as if to comfort him.
    “I’ll do all the work,” Brody said through his sobs. “I’ll get a job and buy his food and walk him and play with him. You won’t have to do anything.”
    Mason already knew that falser words had never been spoken.
    “If you want him, we’ll take him,” Mason’s father said to Mason. He laid a hand on Mason’s shoulder.