Messzelátó Egyesület

Once a week I feel important. Once a week I improve someone's life.

A whole day each week I go to the Rex animal shelter in the outskirts of Budapest and walk the dogs. In average I go with 12-13 dogs, from the morning until the dogs' feeding time at around four p.m.

At the Rex (www.rex.hu) there are around 150 dogs who are all waiting since a lesser or longer time for friendly people and a new home. The dogs are kept in two buildings where there are departments all of the same size but with a different amount of dogs in it. That depends on how many dogs there are in all in the shelter and how good the dogs are getting along with each other individually.

When you see the Rex animal shelter for the first time you immediately get the impression of cleanness and of good organization. (In fact the Rex has even a marketing department!)

However, you enter through a big gate and walk by pastures and a lake. The second thing you notice is the barking, lots and lots of dogs are barking at you, couriously, angrily, nervously.

You make your way into the office and there you ask for Betty (because she is one of the only ones there who speaks English). Betty is one of the employees who takes care of the animals and she is the one who will leash the dogs for you so you can walk them.

Most of the times I first go with the dogs which are in the quarantine station, because they inhabit the smallest departments. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how big the departments are, all dogs want to get out, to play, to run…

After six or seven quarantine dogs I chose the other dogs with whom I want to walk or I can leave this decision to Betty or Vera, who is also employed to take care of the dogs.

Of course I have my favorites, just as any other volunteers, too. (I have met at least three other women who enjoy walking the dogs.)

Those, my favorites, are a female dog who looks like a black wolf and most remarkable: her eyes are from different colors. One is brown, the other is bright blue. My other favorite is a plain brownish/grey dog who has lived all his life in the shelter. The latter is especially sweet and I can just recommend both to anybody who wants to adopt a shelter dog. And this is just the top of the list!

An experience I have made by walking the shelter dogs is how their environment is influencing them.

The Rex is an exceedingly good shelter, the people there really care about the animals, but a shelter is a place where most of the dogs cannot walk out there in the nature very often, where they are surrounded by many other dogs and therefore they are high strung and nervous. I met a lot of dogs who looked truly desperate.

It is not the fault of the shelter, neither of the dogs. They simply need a home.

These days I saw a lot of couples and families at the Rex, choosing a companion and I hope I will see more next week when I will go again…