“Excuse me? What do you mean, dispose of the dog?!”
Author: Morgan OBryant
After my husband’s college reunion, we decided to grab some comfort food at Waffle House. As we were leaving, we heard a loud bark. It came from a chocolate lab inside a crate in the back of a pickup truck.
Just then, two men rushed out of the restaurant. One of them said, “Do you want the dog? You can have him.” My husband replied, “No thanks, we already have two dogs.” I agreed—until one of them added, “We’re going to dispose of the dog after breakfast. Giving him to someone would save us the trouble.”
I shouted, “Excuse me? What do you mean by dispose of the dog?” The man explained that the lab, Buster, was no good as a hunting dog. They had spent money training him, but he failed, so instead of trying to rehome him, they thought it was easier to just get rid of him.
I turned to my husband and said, “Put the dog in the car. We’ll find him a home after we’re back. But I can’t just leave him here.”
My husband wasn’t thrilled, but he still picked up the crate and put it in the back seat with me. Buster was scared and just wanted someone to hold him. Once we got home, we introduced him to our other dogs and gave him the usual pet tests—like sharing food and accepting hugs. He passed them all.
Buster immediately connected with our dogs. He followed us everywhere. It was clear that he didn’t want to hunt, didn’t like water, and had no interest in chasing balls. But he knew this was where he was meant to be.
Later, a lab rescue group called to say someone was interested in adopting him. My husband hung up the phone and his eyes got teary. He said, “I can’t give him away. He became family the moment we put him in the car.”
Buster is the only thing we’ve ever brought home from Waffle House that we’ve never regretted.