Taking the Cat for a Walk

A friend of mine introduced me to walking homeless dogs last year. We arrive at 10.30am at the RSPCA (Patcham, Brighton), and they let us out with a dog each. We often choose to take just one dog between us, so that we can take it in turns to hold the lead, banter, and give the dog a better time. The RSPCA site is next to a recreation ground, so we have a lovely little walk. Sometimes we even test our legs and have a bit of a run. Sometimes we have little choice.

I would recommend dog walking to anyone that can get across a field and back, and isn’t afraid of the Canis lupus familiaris species. As well as being brilliant for the dogs, it is also brilliant for children, adults, the happy healthy and the downright miserable. The RSPCA workers are careful to find a dog suitable for each walker and everyone gets something out of it.

If you can’t house a homeless dog, then giving it a walk - and a bit of loving - will help it to get through yet another day in the kennel. In return, you’ll have a lovely time getting out and about, feel great for doing something worthy, and you’ll even get a bit of exercise. You might even be lucky enough to pick up poo. I haven't been that lucky yet. Now that I've said that, there'll be an oversized dog brewing up a massive, steaming pile of diarrhoea just for me. Crossed fingers not.

Pooing aside, and perhaps inclusively, every dog that you walk will be different and you’ll get to experience the joys of the playful, the fast, the slow, the shy, the attention seeking and the downright easily distracted. Not knowing what to expect is part of the fun.

Of course there are dangers involved with seeing homeless animals; you sometimes want to take them home.

This Sunday, I took My Geek dog walking for the first time. We didn’t come home with a dog, but we did come home with a cat (following a house inspection to check that we’re not a kebab house). The little cat is called Poppy. She’s lived at the RSPCA since she was a kitten in June 2007. She is now hiding in a box in our kitchen. It’s a very scary world for her, but hopefully it will get less scary as time goes by. She has a real home now, with people who will love and care for her.

I hope we get to go dog walking again soon. Fortunately (or unfortunately), our tenancy agreement prevents us from housing every homeless animal that we see. We're only allowed one cat and we have reached our contractual limit.