Tornado Dog

May 15  marked L Frank Baum's birthday.  As probably nearly everyone knows, L Frank Baum is the author is the author of the children's classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the creator of Toto one of the best and most enduring canine characters in literature.  In the story Toto and his mistress Dorothy get picked up by a tornado and transplanted to the magical land of Oz.   Dorothy and Toto remain loyal to each other throughout their adventures and finally make their way back home to Kansas.  I think reading the book as a child, and seeing the movie repeatedly, is what started my initial fascination with dogs.  

Sadly, many of the dogs who are victims of the terrible tornadoes in the southern and western states are not as lucky as Toto.  The latest story is about a dog named Mason who was picked up by a tornado in Alabama.    After the twister Mason's family looked for him in the debris, but they couldn't find him.

  Two weeks later he crawled home on two broken legs and when his owners came to look through the debris of their demolished home, they found Mason sitting on the front porch.  Sadly, Mason's owners cannot care for him right now and have asked the local shelter to take him.   The plan is for Mason to return to his original family after they get their lives back together or to be adopted to a new loving family.  I understand Mason's family is going through a truly terrible time, that I cant even comprehend.  However, I truly hope they can take Mason back soon.  Dogs are members of our families and our responsibility and should not be set aside any more easily then we would set aside our human relatives.    If Mason's family cant take him back I hope the shelter will find a wonderful loving forever home for him and all the other dogs and cats who lost their homes in the tornado.  For a dog, to show such loyalty and bravery in trying to get back to his family, and then to wind up in the shelter is truly heart breaking.