A retired police officer and his namesake poodle
Story and photos by Amy Abern, Best Friends Staff
Carmine Paglino, a frequent volunteer at Pets Alive, recently ordered himself to spend more time offering his services on campus.
The retired police officer found his new calling of socializing dogs after donating a couple of pet beds and a crate to the sanctuary. He became something of a fixture in the volunteer arena, averaging two days a week at Pets Alive. After the dogs rescued from the Virginia puppy mill arrived, he became a permanent fixture, period.
When the puppy mill dogs first arrived, he filled in wherever he could. Carmine quickly became known as the “go to” guy for lifting, cleaning, moving…anything. A few days after the dogs arrived, several volunteers were charged with the sober responsibility of naming all the dogs. One volunteer impressed with Carmine’s work ethic told him she would find a dog that matched his personality and demeanor and name him Carmine.
She picked a poodle.
“Of course, she picked the scrawniest runt you could find,” said Carmine.
Carmine and his namesake bonded. Whenever Carmine showed up for his volunteer efforts, he always made time to play with his skittish pal.
After a week, another volunteer approached Carmine and said, “Hey! You might want to rethink having this dog named after you --- he only has one testicle!”
Carmine thought about it and decided no, Carmine was Carmine, even if he wasn’t “all there.”
And then Carmine the dog had his other testicle removed.
“So what of it?” said Carmine. “He’s a great dog. That’s all I know.”
Carmine, serves as a knight in shining armor not just to Carmine the poodle but to all the puppy mill dogs.
“The greatest thing and the hardest thing for me is seeing them go,” says Carmine. “You don’t want to see it because you’ve grown so attached to them, but you know it’s the best thing for them, so it’s OK.”
And what happens when Carmine gets adopted?
“Oh, I don’t want to think about that,” he says.
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