"WHO LET THE DOG OUT???"

As Dottie lay once more on the cold, hard concrete floor of her cage, a plan began to take shape in her mind.  She lay perfectly still and ran all the details through her head  over and over again, like an animated movie.

That evening, when the girl came around with supper, Dottie greeted her with a smile.  “Hello gorgeous”, said the girl petting her through the wire mesh.  Dottie gobbled down her supper.  She knew she would need all the energy she could muster if her plan was to succeed. As the girl’s footsteps died away and the wooden door slammed, Dottie lay down to take a power nap and wait for dark.  Silence slowly descended over the room, ragged snores and whimpers could be heard coming from some of the cages.  She waited until darkness completely engulfed her and the vast majority of the inmates were in the land  of Nod.  She pulled herself slowly and carefully to her feet, her claws beat a faint rhythm on the concrete as she crossed over to the gate of her cage.

Dottie had carefully examined the latch earlier as she consumed her supper. It was a simple u-shaped latch and as a shaft of moonlight illuminated the gate, she carefully slipped her nose upwards, at the same time pushing on the gate with her front paw.  The gate swung open noiselessly.  So far, so good. She made her way to the back door, carefully keeping to the centre of the room to avoid bumping against any cages and awakening the occupants.  Finally, she felt the hard wood of the back door against her nose.  This door had a latch that was on a spring and would need a little more ingenuity, but Dottie had plenty of that - it was almost her middle name!  She carefully placed her paw on the latch, bringing her full weight very gradually to bear on it.  There was a satisfying click as the door swung free. The night air came rushing in, fresh and clean on her face and in her nostrils.  Dottie breathed in deeply and gladly. It was time to go.