Meet Ben

Did you see NBC's Today Show yesterday? There was a segment on someone from the animal shelter that I volunteer for, the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria. Once a week, I visit the shelter to take pictures of homeless dogs, and sometimes, small animals for their website. I have been doing this for quite some time now.

The story was about how Dolores, our volunteer coordinator left her corporate job to take this non-profit position, but she enjoys it much more than her previous job. Then, there were many shots of "BEN." Ben is a very special dog that we have at the shelter, and I try to promote him every opportunity that I have, so I have to tell you about him, too.

Ben looks like a little bit like a Beagle, but Ben's Mom was a purebred boxer. She was rescued from Louisiana after the Hurricane Katrina and came all the way to Alexandria. One morning, a shelter staff walked in the kennel, and found 2 pups in her cage! She was so skinny that nobody knew she was pregnant!!

So we had two brand new pups! Ben, and his brother, Cajun. Mom and Cajun both found home already, but Ben is still at the shelter. He was born with a hind leg that was not fully functional, and went through some rehab sessions. But not to worry, he can walk fine and in fact, runs pretty fast, like a normal pup. In fact, he does run fast so you probably can't catch him once he starts playing the "Catch Me If You Can!" game with a toy in his mouth.

Ben turned 1 year old in November of 2006, and we celebrated his birthday at the shelter. I baked a big doggy birthday cake for him, of course, made with mostly organic ingredients. In the above photo, he looks sad because the cake was too big for him and he was told to stop eating it. But big-hearted Ben shared his cake with all of his doggy friends at the shelter!

Today, April of 2007, Ben still doesn't have a home. So I am taking every opporunity to spread the word about him. If you know someone who is looking for a special dog, please help spread the word, too!