by Niki Daly
But it was no use talking to Mama or Gogo. Whenever she told them what she saw, they said, “Lolo, it is not our business.”
Still, Lolo could not forget about the old dog.
At art class she drew a picture of the poor animal.
When Belinda asked about her picture, Lolo told the story of the dog with no name.
“People are not allowed to be cruel to animals, Lolo,” said Belinda.
“But Mama says it is not our business,” Lolo explained.
“I understand what your mama means,” said Belinda. “But animals can’t talk, so we must make sure that they do not suffer.”
Lolo looked at her picture and tears came to her eyes.
“Listen, Lolo,” said Belinda, “I’ll talk to Mama and Gogo about it. There must be something we can do for the poor animal.”
And there was.
Belinda explained to Mama that the Animal Rescue Service sends an officer to rescue dogs who are mistreated.
“Rescued dogs are fed and kept safely in kennels until someone who really loves dogs gives them a home,” explained Belinda.
But Mama was still worried. “What if the man finds out that we told the Animal Rescue people about his dog? He looks very nasty.”
“Don’t worry about that. The Animal Rescue team doesn’t tell bad people the names of good people who have reported them.”
“Are you sure?” asked Gogo.
“I’m sure,” said Belinda. “Don’t worry.”
So it was decided that Belinda would let the Animal Rescue Services know about the dog with no name.
The following week, a van with Animal Rescue Service written on it stopped outside the nasty neighbor’s house. A big man in a uniform got out and went up to the neighbor’s front door.
“Go and see what’s happening around the back, Lolo,” whispered Gogo.
Around the back, Lolo could see and hear what was going on.
“See?” said the neighbor, trying to sound nice. “I give my dog water and she has her own place to sleep.” The rescue man bent down and felt the dog’s bony body.
“This dog has been badly treated and is starving. I’m taking her with me to look after,” he said. “And I will also let the police know about the boxes I’ve seen in your house.”
“What do you mean?” growled the man in his nasty voice. “Those boxes are filled with my old clothes.”
“Old clothes in new computer boxes?” said the rescue man. “I don’t think so!”
From the kitchen, Mama and Gogo saw the rescue man gently place the dog with no name into the back of the van. Soon after they had gone, the police arrived.
Inside the house, they found stolen computers and arrested the nasty neighbor.
“Well, I’m glad that’s the end of that!” sighed Gogo. But it wasn’t quite the end…
Belinda adopted the old dog with no name and called her Hope.
On some Saturdays Belinda takes Hope to the art center where the children get to see how well she is looking.
And Hope always goes to Lolo first.
Niki Daly
has won many awards for his work. His groundbreaking Not So Fast Songololo, winner of a US Parent’s Choice Award, paved the way for post-apartheid South African children’s books. Among his many books, Once Upon a Time was an Honor Winner in the US Children’s Africana Book Awards and Jamela’s Dress was chosen by the ALA as a Notable Children’s Book and by Booklist as one of the Top 10 African American Picture Books—it also won both the Children’s Literature Choice Award and the Parents’ Choice Silver Award. Niki wrote and illustrated the picture book Surprise! Surprise! for Otter-Barry Books. He lives with his wife, the author and illustrator Jude Daly, in South Africa.
Also available in the Lolo series
