Lucy woke up to a call Monday morning, and it was her coworker. She said, “The pound is getting shut down, and all the dogs are still here.” Lucy panicked for a second but then calmed herself; there was a problem, and she knew she could find a solution. Lucy got up, got dressed, and walked out the door with determination; she was going to fix this or help this situation out. She made a 30-minute drive to Colfax in 15, as fast as she humanly could, and there were people there who were taking everything out of the building.

Lucy walked to one of the workers and said, “What is happening right now?” The man stopped and said, “Ma’am, out of all people, we don’t want to do this. We love what you guys do here, but this is the boss’s orders, and I can’t lose this job.” So she asked, ” Why are you guys shutting us down. The man replied, “No one has kept up with the utilities or the rent, so we have to evict the place completely.” He also said that they have given eviction notices multiple times to the boss; then, in Lucy’s head, it clicked. That’s why the boss has been so distant and now, in no contact. He didn’t want to deal with the downfall; how cowardly of him to do such a thing to these beautiful creatures.

There were only 4 dogs in the pound at the time of it being shut down. Xerxes, Flocki, Mando, and Kuma.

Xerxes was a Cane Corso, a huge dog that used to be a fight dog that got thrown out to the streets, with scars scraping across his whole body. Floki was a purebred pit bull that the owners abused, then threw out into the mud. Mando, who was a wolf breed, was statuesque in size with ears that peaked like a skyscraper, but the owners said that his size and looks scared people half to death even though he was a sweet dog; he looked like a mix of a Great Dane and a German shepherd. Kuma, who was a Doberman, used to be a watchdog until he did his job and protected the house from an intruder, but then sent the man to the hospital and then had to go to the pound because all of the owner’s family and friends thought your dog was too aggressive. The one thing no one knows about these dogs is that their whole life they were doing this all to be loyal to their owners; their whole life they spent protecting and following their owners’ lead. Breeds in the world; it is almost unmatched by any other. But they got punished for doing what their people asked of them.

And the workers didn’t even want to go near the dogs because they were “too scary.” Lucy called them “sissys” because these dogs would never hurt a fly if they didn’t have to. Lucy said, “These dogs wouldn’t hurt anyone, and they are some of the most loving dogs ever”. The workers stepped back and gave the dogs a chance to come to realize they were some of the best and sweetest dogs ever. Lucy got an idea; she stopped and looked at all of the workers and said, “You guys want to take home a dog today? They are free, and if no one takes them, they would be euthanized by tomorrow. All of the men looked at each other and said, Well,l why not? Let’s test this loyalty and respect.” Lucylit lit up in excitement. And every single man took the dog that called out to them.

2 years later, all of the men and dogs have done extraordinary things. Xerxes and his new owner led a rescue party for a little girl who was lost, and he found her in less than an hour. Floki and his new owner became a nighttime watch at a college campus to stop shady people around the students. Mando fought off a pack of coyotes that was trying to attack a couple of kids. Kuma, who became a police K9, has made multiple drug busts and has taken many criminals down. Now Lucy and all of those workers were thinking one thing: I guess being shut down wasn’t so bad after all.