It’s February 2018, and I’m taking my daily walk through the northern part of my hometown of Indianola.
I’ve been doing this ritual of walking and exploring for over 40 years. It’s not only exercise, but it relaxes my mind, frees my spirits and increases the flow of oxygen to my brain, as well as increases the flow of ideas and creativity.
On this particular day of street walking, I was met by the barks of a very small dog.
Sounding like an amplified bird complaining, this feisty fur ball, no bigger than a squirrel, was full of attitude.
The closer I got to it, the louder it got. She growls and prances impatiently like a hungry man in a slow long line at an all you can eat buffet.
This pint-size pooch’s fur shines ablaze like the bright colors of the sun, as she barks and prances viciously letting it be known that she’s in charge of security and is protecting her owner’s yard.
Without laughing out loud and out of respect for this cute ferocious pit bull in training, I pretended to be frightened and walked slowly and cautiously down the street like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
Once I got down the street I looked back and noticed her growling like a ferocious tiger, and standing like a bouncer after he’s thrown a belligerent trouble maker out of a bar, or should I say she was standing bowlegged and bow armed like a gunfighter about to draw?
Her name is Ginger and she looks like a mixed Yorkshire terrier.
Ginger’s owner is a highly-respected white retired school teacher name Ms. Betty, who got Ginger after her husband died a few years ago. Rumors are that she named Ginger after her all-time favorite singer, dancer and movie star, the iconic Ginger Rogers.
Ginger Rogers, a screen gem who lit up the big screen over 60 years ago, was known as one of the most beloved and graceful entertainers ever. With moves like Jaggar, and the flexibility of a yoga master, Ms. Betty is also very light on her feet and dances with a superb exuberance.
Ginger is a diva of a dog who also likes warm baths, and watching her favorite television show, the Walking Dead on Sunday nights, while having her head rubbed slowly.
But if this vivacious pint size pup could speak, she would tell you that she did hard time in the pound. She would tell you of her humble yet disturbing beginning.
It’s still kind of hard to believe that this small hunk of burning love was held captive in a horror house for hounds. It started over two years ago when a band of brothers, two to be exact, decided to breed and raise dogs in their home.
Ginger’s mother, father, brothers, sisters and countless other dogs were all cramped into the house, malnourished, and covered with trash litter and feces.
For weeks, neighbors complained among each other about the foul odor that came from house. Some even referred to the smell similar to that of a decomposing corpse.
This horror house for hounds eventually got the attention of Indianola City Inspector Elvis Pernell, who ordered a raid on the house by law enforcement, rescuing over 20 puppies, which led to puppies being adopted throughout the city.
Ginger’s rescue has been documented in both the newspaper and on the local television station. The impact of owning a dog is amazing.
Dog owners get more exercise, feel less stress, detect cancer and other sickness sooner, have a healthier heart, feel safer, and grow old gracefully, just to name a few benefits of owning a dog.
In closing I actually wrote this column with the assistance of Mayor Steve Rosenthal, commercial developer Sam Rosenthal and Sunflower County Consolidated School Board member, Mrs. Debra Johnson, and inspired by Ginger the pooch as a friendly reminder that some of the most worthy of pets can be found in an animal shelter.
