Loving Lenny
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Hilarious, Heroic, Human Dog
By Melissa Edmondson

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.
~Anatole France

It was a bright, cold Saturday morning in February. I had popped out of bed early and thrown on a pair of old jeans and a comfy sweatshirt, excited that this much-anticipated day had finally arrived. After six full days of this animal lover’s pleading and begging on Facebook for someone to adopt a sweet, lonely Pit Bull mix that had found his way to our local animal shelter, my prayer had finally been answered. Little “Lenny” (the name I promptly bestowed upon him after observing his gentle-giant ways that mirrored his namesake in the classic Of Mice and Men) was going home! And who had adopted him? Me!

After seeing that there was no public interest in saving this sweet boy from his ever-looming demise date, my big-hearted husband finally gave in. Lenny was coming home to join our family. Lenny would be pet number five. (Keep reading)