As I was checking on the little dog at Manteca’s animal shelter Wednesday that was dropped out of a pickup truck window the day before, I discovered a volunteer winged mascot that had joined the devoted family of workers.

While some seven callers had shown an interest Wednesdsay in adopting the mixed breed Chihuahua-terrier, there is no rush to show the carpet-bagging pigeon the door – or should I say the air.  In fact she just hangs around and faithfully follows staffers on their duties like a bonded dog.

The adoption of the Chihuahua – now rid of a host of fleas – will have to wait until completion of the police report and hopefully a signing off of ownership by the motorist who said he didn’t want the dog any longer after an officer arrested him for possible animal cruelty.

As I’m walking between the dog cages, here comes this bird strutting slowly toward me on foot, something resembling a special traveler in her own right.  After curiously watching the pigeon and taking a few pictures with my pocket camera, I knelt down to see if she would socialize.

At first I was ignored while she chose to pick at the strands out of a nearby broom that was left standing against a wall.  Then she came back over to me, head held high, and pecked a few times at my fingers untroubled that she was so close to a human.

Animal Control Officer Les Rowe said he had picked up “Buddy” and another pigeon on two service calls across town.  When he later determined they were healthy and ready to be released, he let them fly together out the back door of the dog pound facility.  He said the other bird kept going, but “Buddy” circled and came back to where she had learned there was plenty of food and good care along with a cadre of domestic animals.

Now for the past week, when she’s not checking out the dogs, she has been seen sitting above the cat cages making cooing noises.  The barking dogs don’t faze the bird as she waltzes down the concrete walkway between the kennels.  Rowe said she will often take a break and fly off when she feels the need, but she always comes back.  She’s never gone too long, he added.

Telling the story to a police officer friend of mine Wednesday afternoon, I learned a secret in his background that is even more colorful.  We won’t mention any names but he said that when he was an infant, his crib was placed next to a window adjacent to cages of doves in a neighbor’s yard.  Laughing, he said his parents told him later that before he uttered his first words he would coo with the exact sounds made by the nearby birds.



Jessica Costa among shelter volunteers

While I was in the animal facility office, volunteer Jessica Costa brought a year-old German shepherd mix out of his cage for a potential adoption.  She showed him off to a couple that said they would be back to pick up the dog later in the week.  The animal seemed to bond with me as it got close and sniffed, setting its big frame down on both my feet.  He didn’t want to go back into that wire kennel, but obediently followed Costa on a leash.

She is one of four volunteers who gives of her time – mostly Wednesdays – away from her Re/Max Real Estate office in Modesto to deliver pats, walks, baths, and just plain loving of animals who have been turned out by their owners.

Costa remembers as a child when she had her first dog that her dad had brought home to her in Fremont.  There was a problem in that he couldn’t limit his chewing to shoe laces.  When he chewed up the phone lines, he had to go, she said.

Jessica Costa has been a devoted volunteer at the shelter for 14 months.

Her reasoning behind being there for the sad-eyed dogs and cats:

“They touch my heart.  If my dog were in here, I would want to know that someone was here giving treats, giving walks and baths.  I just love them,” she said.

She and her husband have a yellow lab at home named “Suze.”

Every time I visit the animal shelter, it’s the eyes of the animals that make a lasting impression.  Most were family pets, and seem to question why they are locked up away from the loving families they knew as puppies at least.

People like Jessica Costa and new volunteer Cathie Davis feel the same way, and they are doing something about the unfairness of the situation.  The animal shelter needs more volunteers to give of their time and their love for animals who are held in the confines of their small kennels throughout the heat of the summer.

Many times I have heard complaints there is nothing for teens to do in Manteca during the summer months.  Ashley Wilson, 16, has answered the call of the sad, pleading eyes looking for any little bit of attention.  She has been there for those dogs and cats for some time.  Ashley has given of herself in her spare time trying to make something of a difference for animals long known as “Man’s Best Friends.”