Critter Tail
Buffett finds a home
My name is Buffett, like in Jimmy Buffett. I am an 11yearold, odd-looking basset hound mix with a long-haired dark brown and red coat. I have bowed front legs and duck feet paws. I don't have long ears, but I have a very good snooter for following scent trails.

HOME AT LAST- Buffett the

Today, I am a very happy doggie because I live in a true, loving forever home. But I didn't always live in such a paradise.

For the first 10 years of my life, I lived and slept outside with another doggie. When our owner moved, I wound up at the Agoura Animal Shelter. I was first adopted from the shelter by a woman who changed my name to Charlie, I guess because I walk like Charlie Chaplin with my funny-looking legs and paws.

She took me back to the animal shelter after two months. She said I was "aggressive when disciplined." She wrote in a bite report that I was dragged up stairs by my collar. She probably didn't know I was terrified. My report also said that I bit when a girl sat on my tail, and also when a man tried to comb the mats out of my coat. I have a sensitive back leg that hurts sometimes.

I was placed in bite quarantine and was almost condemned to die as a "dangerous dog." But the awesome volunteers at the Agoura Animal Shelter saw a good doggie in me. They gave me treats and pets, and combed me very gently. When I started to lose weight, the nice volunteers fed me canned food so I wouldn't get too skinny. After 30 long days, I was put up for adoption again.

I was at the shelter a long time and I met a lot of doggies. Some were taken there by owners that didn't want them anymore: they barked too much, pooped and peed in the house, dug up yards, shed their coats- all the stuff that happens when dogs don't get enough attention. All of the unwanted animals at the shelter came from irresponsible breeders who would not take them back when their owners who bought them didn't want them anymore.

One day another lady came to the shelter to check up on a stray terrier she found. This lady loves all animals- even those of us who are old mixes and not perfect. She read my bite report and thought the "aggressive" charge was "bogus." She asked the shelter folks if she could socialize with me.

I ignored her at first, but then I started to like her. She came to check up on me every other day. Then she brought her 10-year-old son and his friend to visit me. They gave me treats and showed me kids could be nice and not hurt me.

When it became obvious that no one would adopt me and the shelter said I could get the needle if they got more crowded, the rescuer decided to take me home with her. I love my new home, and my family, and my new pack love me back. Jake, a basset hound, and I howl and sing good together whenever we hear sirens.

Jake and I took our new act on the road. We went to the Doo Dah parade in Pasadena. I wore my parrothead hat and Jake wore his black fedora and dark sunglasses.

Mom took a picture of me getting petted by kids at the parade, and then she sent it to the Agoura shelter volunteers so they could see that they were right about me being a good boy.

Life is so good for me, and now I only have one wish for the New Year: that all the animals in all the shelters across the country find their own forever homes. Last year, 5 million adoptable animals were killed in shelters across the country, but that doesn't have to happen this year, does it? Rebecca Arvizu Agoura Hills basset hound is finally in a happy home thanks to the family that adopted him from the Agoura Animal Shelter.