San Fernando Valley man is adopted by dog

“I feel, no, I KNOW my two idiots rescued me.” — Robert Glucksman

His lovable idiots are his dogs, Nala and Bindi. Nala adopted Robert shortly after his old dog died and he was hurting. She took one look at his sad face walking through the animal shelter and decided this human needed to be rescued.

“Every day, it’s another day at the circus with these two clowns,” he laughed. “I think it’s true. We don’t adopt dogs, they adopt us.”

Robert Glucksman gets on the ground with his rescue dogs Bindi, 6 months, and Nala, 5, in his Chatsworth home on Thursday, March 16, 2023. Glucksman says his dogs rescued him. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Glucksman is one of nearly 400 people in the San Fernando Valley who responded to a touching poem, “Today, I Adopted a Human,” posted recently by Helga Rodriguez-Brandt of West Hills on the site Nextdoor.

It was written by one of the most prolific writers of all time. Anonymous.

“It broke my heart to see him so alone and confused. I don’t like the smell of sad. I wanted to jump on him so badly. He spoke to me tenderly, and I knew, I had to rescue him. That human needed me.

“So, I barked with all my might, followed him for blocks and blocks. I got closer, I could smell his hands. The human smiled for an instant and when he took me in his arms, I began to feel his cold heart warm.

“I got close to his cheeks and felt a tear roll down them. I looked deeply at him and his response was a bright smile. I promised to behave myself, love him forever, and never leave his side.

“How lucky he was to go through that block, down that street, and I feel lucky, too. There were so many people walking around, but no one was looking at me. All worried, all in their troubles. Glad no one else chose me.

“Today, I saved a life. Today, I adopted a human.”

Those last words should be plastered on the front of every city and private animal shelter in Los Angeles. Come on in. We’ve got hundreds of dogs and cats looking for a human to adopt.

Los Angeles Animal Services has 1,300 dogs in its overcrowded shelters right now with no room for more. It’s so bad they’re asking people who can’t adopt to consider foster care for a few days, a week, a month to give the dogs a break from kennel life. From living behind bars waiting for a Robert Glucksman to walk by their cage and catch their eye.

“What did we humans ever do to deserve dogs?” asked a resident of the Valley, one of the 400 people who responded to the poem. Good question.

How many lives have they saved? How many widowers and widows found solace in their arms? How many homeless people lean on them for protection, and the only love in their sad lives?

How many kids and families have they adopted, and made stronger — promising to love them forever, and never leave their side?

What did humans do to deserve dogs?

Nala, 5, and Bindi, 6 months, play in their Chatsworth yard on Thursday, March 16, 2023. The Glucksman family used rescue organizations to find their dogs. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Robert Glucksman saw his father, a tough old Marine, cry only once. The day his dog died. Twenty years later, Robert cried over his own dog’s death. The heartbreak was unbearable.

Three days later he went to the animal shelter to ease it. He wasn’t looking to replace his old dog, he could never do that. He just needed to be around dogs that were hurting, too.

Nala was lying down in her cage when he walked by. She could smell the sadness on him. She began to bark and bark until he turned around, saw her, and smiled. Robert didn’t know it, but he was about to be rescued by a shelter dog.

Today, I saved a life. Today, I adopted a human.

Dennis McCarthy’s column runs on Sunday. He can be reached at dmccarthynews@gmail.com.

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