“Hey, doll,” she smiled warmly. “High school junior?”
“Senior, actually,” George corrected. “She’s a bit of a late starter.”
“No time like the present. Don’t let him scare you off, Felicity, was it?” I nodded. “George is all bark and no bite. Excuse the dog pun, you get a lot of those around here.” She gave me a wink and went back to whatever had her attention behind the desk.
“Don’t mind her,” George said, leading me through a door into a long hall. “So out there was what we call, ‘the floor’. And everything beyond this door is what we refer to as ‘the back’.”
“Got it.”
“I figured we’d start with the fun stuff and work backwards.”
“Sounds good to me.” The place had a very distinct smell. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it was there.
“We have a permanent staff of four. Me, Serena, Joseph, and Maggie, and a team of five volunteers who help us out on a week-to-week basis depending on how busy we are.” George kept walking, leading me to the far end of the hall. “Serena handles front of house, all customer enquiries, and adoptions. Maggie and I deal with new arrivals; we run full check overs, update vaccination boosters, administer medication and treatment in any cases requiring it. And Joseph is our resident animal whisperer.”
“Animal whisperer?”
“It’s what we like to call him. It’s his job to look after the animals day-to-day, but the guy has a rare gift with them, even the most severe cases we see. In my five years being here, I haven’t seen a case he hasn’t been able to crack.”
“Wow, he sounds wonderful.”
“He’s really something. Unfortunately, he’s taken a rare day off, so you won’t meet him today.”
Disappointment settled in my chest, but I tried to shake it off, remembering Hailee and Mya’s words of encouragement. This was a positive step in the right direction.
“And here we are. This is what we like to call, ‘the zoo’.”
The second George opened the door, I realized why. Assaulted with overzealous barks and wary purrs, I stepped into the room. Even a few growls greeted me.
“Okay, okay, quiet down.” George dragged his keys along the nearest cage. “I brought someone to meet you all, but you have to promise to behave.”
“There are so many.”
“We don’t just take cases from Rixon. We cover the surrounding areas too, so things can get pretty crazy. We’re almost at capacity right now. Twenty-five cats, eighteen dogs, and Earl.”
“Earl?” I asked, my eyes wide as I observed the vast room. It was clearly divided into cats and dogs with an examination table and apparatus set up in the middle. The crates were big and spacious, each equipped with food and water bowls and scratching posts for the cats, a few toys for the dogs.
“Our rabbit. We technically only take cats or dogs, but he was found in the alley behind the building and Serena begged us to take him in.
“Someone just left him there?”
“You’d be surprised where people dump their unwanted pets.”
My heart clenched as I found the long-eared rabbit in a special cage away from the other animals. He was so cute and defenseless; the idea someone could just toss him away made my heart ache.
“So when an animal first arrives, the first port of call is a full health check...” For the next ten minutes, George explained how they processed new animals and how they used a digital matching service to try and rehome as many animals as possible.
“The average stay with us is eleven weeks, which means we’re doing a fairly good job of finding animals new compatible homes. We have a thorough screening process and insist potential adopters attend one of our information sessions before jumping headfirst into anything. And we’re proud to hold an eighty-five percent rehoming success.”
“Eighty-five percent? But what happens to the other fifteen percent?”
“Oh, they usually become lifers here or we transfer them to a more suited center.” He moved over to a cage and crouched down. “Now this is Boomer. He’s a black lab who’s been with me since the beginning.”
The dog stared up at me, leaning up to sniff the air around me. “Hi there, boy.”
“You want to meet him? He’s as friendly as they come.”
“I’d love to.” A little thrill shot through me as George unlocked the cage and pulled open the front gate.
“He’s a little unsure of new faces so give him a minute.”
“Hey, Bo—”
The huge dog leaped toward me, knocking me back onto my butt.
“I think you have a fan,” George chuckled but I had my hands full of dog as Boomer nudged and licked my face, coaxing me to run my hands through his soft, glossy fur.
“And George said you were shy.” I glanced over at him and he blushed a little. He was kind of cute, made ten times cuter by the fact he cared for all these animals.
But I wasn’t here to crush on George, I was here to soak up everything I could about what it entailed to work in a place like A Brand New Tail.
“You like that, huh?” I scratched under Boomer’s neck and he lifted his head from side to side so I could get better access.
“Okay, Boom, back in you go. Joseph isn’t on shift today, but I’ll make sure you get to stretch those legs later.” He patted Boomer on the head before gently herding him back into his cage.
“They all get daily exercise?”
“They do. Twice a day. And then Joseph usually has them out in small groups in the yard. It’s important for socialization and preparation for their new homes.”
I nodded, eagerly soaking up every word. “I always wanted a dog or a cat, but my mom was concerned about allergies.”
“I have three pets.” George scooped a handful of doggy treats out of a jar and began working his way down the low row of cages. “A spaniel and two cats.”
“Where did you study?”
“I did animal science at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine. I graduated last year, got my licenses, and Regina offered me the position of center manager.”
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
“I always imagined I’d work at a veterinary clinic, but once I started volunteering here, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. There’s something magical about bringing together a rescue pet and a new owner.” Pride radiated from every word and I realized I wanted that. I wanted to make a difference to animals and people.
“You have that look,” he observed.
“I do?”
“Yeah,” he smiled, “The newbie sparkle. I remember it well. It looks good on you.” His eyes widened at his slip of the tongue, and I smothered a giggle.
George was flirting with me. It was probably unintentional and harmless, but it felt nice all the same.
“And that was really inappropriate. I’m sorry. Sometimes I speak before I think. I can assure you, I’m usually much more professional.”
“It’s okay.”
Awkward silence stretched out before us despite the little flutters in my chest.
“So, hmm, yeah this is the ‘zoo’. We also have a surgical room, a recovery room, and a couple of isolation pens for the worst cases.”