26 Mar Animals Deserve Our Love and Our Patience

Jocelyn Valdez celebrates her high school graduation with her dog Blacky, whom her family got in 2009.

Commentary, Jocelyn Valdez

I have always loved animals. When I was in kindergarten, my class did a project on what we wanted to be when we were older. I wrote that I wanted to be a doctor for animals.

I was in first grade when we got Blacky, my first dog. My dad got him from a neighbor because we had really wanted a dog. That was 2009. We still have him. Later, we ended up getting a dog we found through the Pennysaver magazine. My mom and I drove to Sacramento to pick Princess up.

>>>Read: Beyond ‘Pandemic Puppies’: Why Pet Adoption Is Still Vital

When I was young, my mom and I would rescue dogs running in the street. We would keep them at our house until we found their owners. Once, a couple of squirrels fell from a tall palm tree, and we ended up collecting them and taking care of them. Eventually, we took them to Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek. And at one time, we had 21 stray cats and were feeding them all. Well, they weren’t really ours, but we claimed them. Why so many? A neighbor got kicked out of her house where she had more than 50 cats! They would mostly stay outside but often around our house. After I started feeding them, they knew where there was food.

When our dog Blacky was young, I taught him to play hide-and-seek. I would put my hands on his head and say, ready, set — and then, I’d go run and hide. He would go looking for me, puzzled.  I carried a toy that I would squeak so he would know where I was. He liked the game. Blacky slept with me when I was growing up, but now he’s nearly 15 and blind. We still keep buying him toys, though.

When I’m with animals, I feel like I’m in the right place. I work as a vet assistant these days and look forward to going to my job. There are all kinds of surgeries on which I just assist. But it’s really interesting to learn about all this different stuff and the anatomy of an animal. I also enjoy learning how to try and communicate with animals who cannot speak to you. It’s like a little investigation trying to figure out what’s going on with an animal and how we can help it.

I help my co-workers communicate with people too. Many Hispanic people come into the hospital who don’t speak English properly or understand it. Being bilingual, I am called on to translate.  It’s nice to see how relieved they are that somebody speaks Spanish.

I want to be a vet technician, but it’s hard. There are few schools in California for vet techs, and they’re extremely expensive. I did not grow up rich, but I’ve always tried to find a way achieve my dreams. I began attending Carrington College in Concord but left before I could finish the two-year program.

The payments were about $3,000 a month — at least, a price I was not able to pay on my own. The school insisted that I go to school full-time and not work. The staff would tell students they needed to tell their parents to pay it for you. But that doesn’t work for everybody. I only managed to reach the third term. I was supposed to graduate this month.

>>>Read: Billions of Dollars Couldn’t Repay My Parents’ Love

When I dropped out, I was pretty bummed out. But I’m going to figure it out. I’m just 20 years old.

I’ve never felt too discouraged because — thank God — I still have the job I wanted working with animals. I’ve learned so much more at my job than I learned at school. I have very supportive bosses.

I started working as a vet assistant before I stopped attending school. Usually, you need more schooling or a certificate for a vet assistant job. But I had experience. In high school, I volunteered for many activities that had to do with animals. I also was feeding animals in Pittsburg.

When I saw a job opportunity near home, I walked in in my school scrubs and asked if they were hiring. I told them all of my experience. Plus, I had a friend from Carrington College working there.

I got the job! Luckily, they saw potential in me.

We usually work with dogs and cats, but occasionally, we’ll get bunnies. Or we’ll have to trim an iguana or lizard or little guinea pig’s nails. We do many things to care for animals like giving injections, drawing blood, lab work, vaccines, X-rays and dental stuff. We also have to do some euthanizing.

In the beginning, it got to me seeing so many sick animals each day. It was troubling too, knowing that some people can’t pay for treatment. It makes me really sad when the only choice they have is to euthanize the animal.

The hardest part of that for me is knowing the dog really doesn’t understand what’s going on and seeing the owners crying and telling me their favorite memories. Sometimes, I’ve wanted to cry in the room with them.

While some people want to do what’s best for their pets and can’t, some other people can be so cruel to animals. We all share the same heartbeat. We breathe the same air. Maybe the only real difference is they can’t communicate with us. And they can’t do some of the things that we can.

It takes somebody who loves animals to understand and take care of them. People should be kind to their pets.

Just be patient and love them.

Read our pet adoption series! Start with Part One below:

Overcrowding at Contra Costa Shelter Puts Animals at Risk