Francis and Susan J. Mardula of Alexandria have volunteered for 21 years at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria. Susan Mardula writes:

Our lives have truly been enriched by the animals we have adopted over the years and by the wonderful animal caring people we met through our volunteer work.

When my husband and I first met, we each had pets with “S” names. We continued the tradition over the years.

In photo, front row, on floor:

• Speaker, a three-legged Airedale who is a true inspiration. His former owner allegedly beat him when he was 4 months old crushing the bones in his hind leg necessitating amputation of the leg. The owner didn’t want to pay for the surgery and told the vet to put the dog to sleep. The vet asked ownership of the dog be surrendered. He was given proper medical care and taken to AWLA where we adopted him. Speaker is a wonderful life lesson for all of us. What did he do? He forgave, he forgot, and he went on to lead a very happy life. Because he is such a joy, we decided to share him with the wounded warriors at the new Fort Belvoir hospital. Because he is missing a limb, we thought the soldiers could relate to him, and because he was so euphoric, we thought his happiness would be contagious. The first sentence expressed by everyone who meets him for the first time: “Oh, what a happy dog!”

• Shortcut, a Cardigan Welch Corgi, was part of a lawsuit in western Pennsylvania where an individual was charged with hoarding. He was one of 30 dogs left outside in a field all his life. Seventeen of the 30 were in such horrible shape they had to be euthanized. He was turned over to Corgi Rescue and was fostered by two senior women in eastern Pennsylvania. They gave us directions to their home via back roads with no route numbers or street names. We took a wrong turn by a barn and a two-and-a-half hour drive one wat took five hours — hence his name Shortcut. He had never been inside and didn’t know how to climb stairs. He was fearful of unknown noises such as a hair dryer or blender, and he had never been socialized. Our dogs at the time taught him the necessary skills for indoor living and how to relax. Because the Cardigan Corgi has such short legs and is low to the ground, in week one he took it upon himself to become the “Guide Dog to our Blind Dog,” a miniature Schnauzer. He certainly earned his keep in the first week.

Second row on the couch:

• Smooch, an American Curl, has no ears. At approximately 8 weeks of age, he was run over by an industrial lawn mower. His ears were sawed off and he had lacerations to his skull. A passerby found him a day or two later and flies had laid eggs in the blood in his head. He had his arm around his little sister who did not make it. Thank goodness the person who found him was proactive and took him for medical attention. We were volunteering at AWLA shortly after his surgery and adopted him. He acts like a dog. He comes when he is called, greets you at the front door, and loves people. He follows you around to supervise all of your work. And, fortunately, he has no hearing impairments.

• Shenanigans, a Papillon/Border Collie mix, had an owner who kept dogs only for breeding and selling puppies to make money. When they could no longer have litters, he/she would dump the dogs at the shelter. We adopted her from the AWLA. She was, guessing, approximately 5 years old. She is quite the character and full of antics which we discovered quickly after she arrived at our home. Hence, her name Shenanigans. She is so smart we could write a book of all of the clever maneuvers she has executed. She is a lively little girl who keeps us challenged trying to stay one step ahead of her.

• Spamoni, an Orange Tabby, was left behind when his family moved. Thinking that he had gotten lost, the neighbors called the family to tell them they had found their cat. Much to their dismay, the family had not planned to bring the cat and left him. Thank goodness there are people with morals; the neighbors brought him to the AWLA for an opportunity to find a new home. We had recently lost our older cat to cancer. We were volunteering and were introduced to this extremely affectionate adult cat. The first time I held him, he started purring, rubbing his head on mine and started nibbling on my ear. That’s all it took. We had just returned from Italy and loved their sweet spumoni ice cream. Since this guy was so, so sweet, we named him Spumoni. He had obviously lived with a dog and immediately bonded with our canine kids.

• Sez, a miniature Schnauzer, was 4 and a half months old when he was relinquished to the AWLA by a young couple. Five weeks prior we had lost our elder Schnauzer, Simon, to cancer. The AWLA contacted us. They did not share the sex, markings or age. We arrived to find an exact duplicate of our Simon. The first two weeks in our home were very unsettling. Everything this young guy did was the same thing Simon did — same mannerisms, same habits. It was as if Simon had returned reincarnated in this young man. Do you remember the game, “Simon Says?” It was as if Simon was saying to him, go do this, go do that. We named the new fellow Sez and it keeps Simon in the present. Sez and our three-legged Airedale, Speaker, race and chase in our backyard. Speaker has no mobility impairments and could win a gold medal.

Everyone gets along very well and we are extremely blessed with love brought to us by these formerly homeless animals. For those of you considering a new pet for your home, we highly recommend adopting.