I stood by your bed last night, I came to have a peep
I could see that you were crying, You found it hard to sleep.
I whined to you softly as you brushed away a tear,
"It's me, I haven't left you, I'm well, I'm fine, I'm here"
I was close to you at breakfast, I watched you as you pour the tea,
You were thinking of the many times, your hands reached down to me.
I was with you at the shops today, your arms were getting sore.
I longed to take your parcels, I wish I could do more.
I was with you at my grave today, you tend it with such care.
I want to reassure you, that I'm not lying there.
I walked with you toward the house, as you fumbled for your key.
I gently put my paw on you, I smiled and said "It's me."
You looked so very tired, as you sank into a chair.
I tried so hard to let you know, that I was standing there.
It's possible for me, to be so near you every day.
To say to you with certainty, "I never went away."
You sat there very quietly, then smiled, I think you knew..
In the stillness of that evening, I was very close to you.
The day is over...I smile and watch you yawning
And say "goodnight, God bless, I'll see you in the morning."
And when the time is right for you to cross the brief divide,
I'll rush across to greet you and we'll stand side by side,
I have so many things to show you, there is so much for you to see
Be patient, live your journey out...then come home to be with me.

Thank you Nikki Pate for being with me, you are truly a wonderful person and so mature for your young age!!!!

SAD MAX: Mary Wilborn interacts with Max a formerly abused stray that she picked up
a few years ago after he was abandoned by his previous owner.

Animal facts:

73 percent of all animals that come into the Kokomo Humane Society are euthanized.

5,000 animals will come into the Humane Society this year.

4,500 animals were sheltered by the Humane Society last year.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, between 8 and 12 million cats
and dogs are homeless, but this does not take into account abandoned animals or
animals who never make it to shelters.

Barking up for them

Howard County woman fights to prevent animal abandonment

By KATHERINE LEWIS

Tribune staff writer

Six-year-old Max ambles to the door with his head hung low and his big sad eyes
minding the visitor at the door with nervous curiosity.

As the visitor is shown to the living room, Max follows at a distance, eventually
climbing up on the sofa beside Mary Wilborn. As Wilborn talks to the visitor, Max
trembles but stays focused on the guest. His tail remains tucked between his legs.

"We're trying to make him get used to being around people," Wilborn said of Max, her
German Shepherd. "He was badly abused. He had knots all over him. At first, he
wouldn't come in the house."

Wilborn rescued Max five years ago this summer, when he was a puppy. Max had been
left by his previous owner around Wilborn's house on County Road 400 East.

"I used to watch my son play with him," she said. "We called the Humane Society, but
then we fell in love with him and decided to keep him. Max is very fortunate he ended
up here."

About three months after Max came to live with Wilborn, the family adopted another
stray, a cat named Adidas.

"It breaks my heart," Wilborn said. "We owe it to our pets to be responsible."

Wilborn hopes that the stories of Max and Adidas aren't lost on Howard County ears.
Wilborn, who volunteers at the Kokomo Humane Society, will take some of her ideas
for educating the public to the agency's board next month.

Already, Wilborn has succeeded in persuading Insight Cable to show Humane Society
strays on Channel 3 and will be asking the board to help put the animals on
petfinder.com, an Internet site run by Betsy Saul of Tucson, Ariz., who developed the
site with her husband, Jared, in 1995. The site works to find homeless pets a home,
and many animal shelters across the country use Petfinder to find homes for animals.

"Working with these resources, we could accomplish so much more," she said.

Wilborn said her first goal is education. She said that when people dump animals, they
assume their pets will be able to fend for themselves.

"What people don't realize is these animals have been domesticated," she said. "They
don't know how to fend for themselves. The sad truth is these animals are usually hit
by a car, eaten by other animals or they starve to death."

About 5,000 animals will pass through the doors of the Kokomo Humane Society this
year, and most of them will be stray animals. Officials estimate the number of strays
coming into the Humane Society will surpass last year's 4,500.

"We're so swamped this summer, especially with cats," said Jackie Koontz,
administrative assistant at the Kokomo Humane Society. "People just dump them in the
county. It's sad."

When someone calls the Humane Society about a stray animal, the organization sends
someone to pick the animal up. The animal is held for five working days to allow
owners time to claim their missing pets. After five days, the animal is evaluated and
possibly put up for adoption.

"As long as we have the room and there are no [health] complications , we will put the
animal up for adoption," Koontz said.

Koontz said about 73 percent of the animals that come into the Humane Society are
euthanized, but that figure also accounts for people who bring in their own animals to
be euthanized.

Koontz said the Humane Society actively promotes spay and neuter programs to help
control the pet population. She said it is important for Kokomoans to know that not
only female animals need to be fixed, but males as well.

"Some people think, 'I don't need to get my dog fixed, he can't get pregnant.' That's
true, but if you let him run, he could get another dog pregnant," she said.

Koontz said it is not just the mutts of the world that end up as strays.

"We are seeing a lot more purebreds," she said. "They run out on people or people let
them run loose. It is amazing to me."

The first thing Wilborn said she did for Max and Adidas was have them neutered. But
although she has been a responsible pet owner, Wilborn said she has seen tragic cases
of animal overpopulation since then.

"One of my neighbors told me they found a box of kitties over on [County Road] 250
East," she said. "July 4, my son and I saw some puppies out in the country that
couldn't have been more than six months old. We took food out there, but couldn't get
to them, so we called the Humane Society. They were half starved. The Humane Society
told me they would probably be put to sleep."

But no matter if they are rescued or not, dumping has a lasting effect on some animals.
Although Max has a good home now, Wilborn said he will never live up to what he
could have been.

"The vet said his life span is not what it could be because he's scared all the time," she
said. "He will never trust a man except my son. He's just one of the many sad cases."