I’m an empath. This means I can feel the pain and emotions of others, human and animal alike. It’s hard on me to go into the kennels at the shelter; I feel the dogs’ anxiety, sadness, fear. Each time I visit the shelter I come home feeling drained. I keep on, though, because I know their pain is worse than mine and I need to help them.

But I don’t know. I just don’t know. It’s become more and more difficult for me to deflect their pain. How will I go on?

There are dogs that when you spend time with them it’s evident that they are looking for someone. The spend most of their time at the fence, at the gate, pacing. When a human comes into view they become alert, slightly frantic. They never stop searching for the human family that left them there.

Yesterday I took Bentley out into the yard in order to photograph him. He was one of these dogs. Well trained, well taken care of, searching. When I brought him back to his kennel I read the clipboard of information. Sure enough, it stated: Surrendered. Reason, new baby. I’ve seen this many times.  But this time I cried.

I believe I’ve been given a gift in my ability to photograph these dogs and I need to use that gift to help them. How can I continue? How can I not?