Everyone's Best Friend (Jason)

[Bell Connelly]

There’s several things that Bell never understood about people, how someone could find it enjoyable to chew gum, what the general interest in boxing was Two people punching each other in the face until the other boxer physically couldn’t pick himself up off from the ground anymore. How utterly barbaric. Fighting never solved anything. A caveman solved their problems with their fists. But it takes a man of great inner strength to refuse to fight and solve problems via reasonable discussion

But the biggest thing she never understood is how some people can just so easily throw away animals like they were trash, dogs in particular were some of the most loving creatures on the planet but people so easily abandon them as if they were some kind of toy that they have grown sick of over time..

It made Bell so sad…

Hence why the animal shelter was so closed to her heart and she often spend time around the animals here. It was Bell’s pleasure more then anything else. She adored animals and if she could help them rehabilitate in any way then that was just an added bonus.

“Ok. Boscos? Are you ready!” Bell smiled warmly as she tossed a ball side to side as a large Bullmastiff followed it move for move practically drooling before Bell tossed the ball as far as she could and Bosco followed after it as fast as she could with a bum leg. Bosco was run down by a car damaging one of his legs and the shelter was taking great pains to get him back to fighting fitness “Good boy Bosco!” Bell cooed once he returned and dropped a ball on her lap “Whose a good boy, whose such a good boy you are” she said punctuating every word with a scratch behind both ears

[Jason Campbell]

Jason thought there were laws to protect the poor animals. It shouldn’t be allowed to make them toss their dog in the middle of the road like that. He was at a crossroad, waiting for the light to turn green when he saw it. On the most passion corner of Kalispell, did guy just opened the door of his car and let his dog, a golden retriever, come out. He didn't tie the leach to the lamp post or anything. Just told the dog to stay and drove off. Jason, who was close, could not believe his eyes. In his car, he even let a few comments regarding this. Without ac are in the world for his dog, the man drove off. The dog could decide to chase after the car and then would likely get rolled over. Jason stopped and picked the animal before that happened.

Luckily for him, the dog obediently hopped into his Jeep. Now, Jason could drive it away from danger. He didn't think about keeping the retriever though. So he drove to the animal shelter. There, he opened the door and looked at the poor animal. It was scared, he could feel it. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” Jason said before grabbing the leash. The dog struggled at coming off the car. It was understandable considering what happened the last time it did. Jason had no idea if that was a male of a female, he did not bother to check. He just wished there was a way to know who was the previous owner and if there was a way for him to pay for what he did.

The dog finally followed him but it didn’t take long after Jason entered the shelter that the retriever ran off. Not used to handle dogs, Jason let go of the leash and the retriever ran off to someone who was petting a dog, a man running behind it to get the dog back.

[Bell Connelly]

Bosco was doing wonderful Bell was ever so delighted to see, a few months ago he was unlikely to walk again was now bounding around with the best of them. Just a few more weeks of rehab for him and hopefully he can find a new family for him to love and vice versa

Unfortunately Bosco has grown quite attached the Bell the same with Bell to him and a part of her will be sad when he left…

But it was time for his bath so Bell said her good byes before she retreated to a nearby bench to collect herself and relax but it wasn’t long before she was joined by a new dog trotting towards her, Bell looked around momentarily before cautiously leaning forward “Hello there…Who you belong to then…”

[Jason Campbell]

Jason had not really feared for the dog to be injured. Had it been the case, he only needed to use his power and fix that. But that might actually scare the dog. Right now, the animal seemed relatively calm. How can one just give it up like that, he did not understand. If the man could no longer take care of his four-legged friend, he could have brought him to a shelter or something like that. He still feared the dog might have some disease that explained why it was abandoned like that. Because it clearly was not aggressive. At the very least, the dog looked like it had been taken care of in the past so certainly there were traces of the retriever somewhere. Because dropping it in the middle of traffic just to have it run over by a car was a terrible way to get rid of an animal.

Jason never had one. They never owned a dog at home when he was a kid. And except for his rats and mice, and they were not pets but used for research, he had none now. He didn't think about adopting one either. But he couldn’t just sit here and not do the right thing. So he intended to let others do the right thing for him.

It also explained why he had little control over the dog who wanted to play with another dog. If the retriever was that playful, what condemned him to this fate? Some people were just horrible people. He followed the dog all the way to a woman. He recognized her of course and had a little smile. Part of him was really not surprised to find Bell here. “I just found him. Its owner got rid of it in the middle of the road, can you believe that? I was hoping there might be a way to know who that owner was,” he explained as he arrived close enough of Bell for her to hear and see him. Luckily, she too would have recognized him.

[Bell Connelly]

Naturally Bell’s first thought was to pet the dog, after all it was no secret that she was nothing if not a lover of all dogs –In fact she was a fan of most animals, even spiders. It wasn’t there fault that they looked the way that they did- It must hurt when your very appearance is considered horror to every one in the outside word? Who knew maybe all spiders wanted was a friend…These were the thoughts that kept Bell awake at night…

But she tried to resist that particular urge, after all this was a strange dog that Bell has never seen before, for all he knew the dog had some kind of illness or didn’t like when someone they didn’t know was near them. Some dogs perceived a hand being extended towards them as a threat. Of course the dog didn’t seem to be intimidated or threatening in the least with big brown watery eyes panting and looking up at Bell with a expression that seemed to screamed “Hello there. Will you be my friend?”

But better safe then sorry.

Bell looked up smiling recognizing the voice of Jason, the doctor that walked into her reading stories to children before she gasped “Oh, how awful. How could anyone do something like that to such a sweet thing?” Bell said gasping “Is it friendly? Have you checked tags? Any hints at all where he came from?”

[Jason Campbell]

It was not that Jason didn’t like animals but he already tended to forget about feeding himself so he could not see how he was supposed to take care of a dog. He was sorry for this one because it looked very affectionate and obedient. Bringing the dog to his brother would be no better as no doubt he would see it as just another poor soul his big brother abandoned. This place was the only one he could go.

He was not expecting to see Bell there, even though he knew she had a love for animals. She had a love for everyone and everything, really. Maybe the dog knew she was the one person that would be the nicest to him here, and it was why it came there. Although the other dog and the toy Bell had with her might also explain it. This really seem like a playful dog. Maybe Jason should stop calling it ‘it’. But he didn't even bother to check if this was a male or a female. All he checked was for a tag and there was none.

He explained how the two met and Bell was probably as shocked as he had been when he saw the scene. He shrugged with an appropriate expression for the circumstances. Some people were just assholes. “There’s a collar but I couldn’t see any tag. They just dropped the dog, told it to stay and went away. I was hoping there might be a chip or something. Or maybe they’ve known that dog and could help. I can’t really see why they had to get rid of a dog like this,” he explained, looking at the retriever who looked at them, hoping for their attention. It was even wagging its tail. “I suppose they didn’t expect a retriever can be this big. That’s still not an excuse,” he thought out loud, more to himself. He shook his thoughts away to turn his attention on Bell. “What are you here for? I had no idea you had an animal.” Then again, how much did he know about her, really, other than she was a kind soul?

[Bell Connelly]

Bell, had a thing about when people referred to animals as "It" Like they were just objects or beneath them in some way or another. Like they were beneath them in some way or another. That always gave Bell something to frown about, it rubbed her the wrong way certainly which is why she made it a point to always refer to animals as "He" or "She" after all she wouldn't exactly find it nice if someone called her "It" So she couldn't imagine an animal would feel any different about it

Once she got the confirmation that the dog was quite healthy and wasn't dangerous in any way Bell leaned forward and gently scratched him behind his ear just the way that she knew that a dog would just adore it "That always makes me so sad how people think that they can leave an animal like that and feel nothing" She sighed to herself "I sometimes I think that the dog might think he was the one at fault, that they didn't love their owners enough or they did something wrong. Dogs love people unconditionally so the idea that some people doing that to someone who loves like a pet..." Bell shook her head patting the dog on the head "It's not your fault boy"

Bell's attention was grabbed again by Jason's question "Oh no, I don't...It's just my day for volenteering here. I also come here on the weekends if the soup kichen has enough people working there of course

[Jason Campbell]

Jason would have gladly call this dog he or she but he did not even bother to check if he should refer to it as he or she. Not knowing the gender, he went for it. He did not mean to upset Bell with his choice of words, simply he preferred not to get too attached to an animal he knew he wouldn’t be a good owner to. Offering Jason a pet pretty much meant you didn’t like animals.

Jason nodded in agreement with her. “It isn’t like you cannot learn more before getting a pet. And even if you cannot keep it with you, there are better ways to let go of an animal,” Jason added. It was the worst part in this, the fact someone really thought the best way to get rid of his dog was to abandon it in the middle of the road like that.

Bell seemed to have a love as unconditional for pets as she claimed pets had for humans. “I agree. And believe me, I hope this one finds a better family next time. Can you believe that I had no problem getting it to get in my car? Can’t be a behavior problem, I don’t think I’ve seen a more obedient dog.” Jason sighed heavily. In a way, he wished there was a good reason why they had to let go of the dog but the way it was handled, he doubted it and it was sad.

“How much volunteering do you do?” He couldn’t help but to ask when she pointed out she did some here as well as at the soup kitchen. He already knew she did some at the hospital as well. He smiled though, thinking it was really sweet of her. “He’s not too old for adoption, right?” he asked though with some concern. He said he because Bell called the dog boy so he assumed she noticed he was a boy. It would be kind of sad if such a sweet dog was too old and would likely end up dead because no one would want of him. They didn't do that with orphans, killing them because every family preferred babies to older ones. There was something just terrible about doing it to animals then. But that didn't change the fact Jason did not think he was the right owner for this one.

[Bell Connelly]

The idea of offering him the pet did cross Bell's mind, but that was more impulsive thing more then anything else, less because she thought that would be a perfect match and more to get this dog a home that it deserved and Bell herself lived a home with Reid who trained police dogs for a living and if she were to take him home the other bigger dogs would easily over power the poor guy.

Still, looking into his guys it was hard not to fall in love with it. He was such a sweet dog so quit and well behaved, Bell actually felt safe enough to gently grab his waist and slowly place him on his lap and continued to scratch his ear while she spoke "He does seem quite tame doesn't he? I've stopped trying to question the reasons behind why people do the things that they do a long time ago" Bell sighed in a forlorn manner can't helping but to equate the dog situation with her own "Somethings things happen. We can't explain how or why. We just have to deal with them...Make the best of them as best we can"

Now wasn't that a question? Bell frowned trying to piece together to that particular mystery, tilting her head somewhat in thought "A couple more then that" She smiled a little timidly as if embarrassed "I like to keep myself busy" Bell smiled "..and I like to help those that need help " Bell said knowing full well that wasn't the real reason why she did what she did but she didn't want to get into that.

It was a valid question of course knowing that most people would often go for the younger more cuter pups to be taken home, which was a sad fact of life. Most older dogs got put to sleep, a horrible and brutal practice is ever there was one "I hope not, there's a lot of good families out there who would love this type of dog. And if not this place is a comfortable home for many dogs"

[Jason Campbell]

Just because Jason didn’t think he’d be the best to keep this dog did not mean he wanted to just abandon the poor animal to his fate. He knew what happened to animals who couldn’t find a home. They could be the most affectionate creatures, the longer it took for them to find a home, the closer it led them to actually being euthanized. Sad, really, and Jason didn’t want it to happen to this dog.

“Even when you say that, it doesn’t stop it from being painful,” he replied as he watched her give some attention and care to the dog. The tail was wiggling to express his pleasure and somehow Jason did wish it would have been easier for him to just take the dog. But one as sweet as this one would get a home easily for sure. “I should probably have someone check him up, make sure he isn’t ill or anything. And if he has a chip that could identify him. In a way, I doubt it, but who knows...” He couldn’t see someone paying for the tagging if they cared so little about their dog but if that happened, Jason doubted they would have known exactly where it was and how to pull it out. There was no blood on the fur so obviously it was not cut off if there was any.

He smiled as she admitted she volunteered a lot. “That’s a nice way of doing it,” he told her. He could understand her desire to help others. It felt good when you could do that. He simply didn’t think she’d do that much to help. “I still don’t know how you do it. I always feel like there could be more hours in my day so I could do everything.” Then again, time was a concept Jason did not exactly mastered. “Well, you reassure me. I don’t want to take I saved his life only so he could be put to sleep.”