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Look Beneath the Surface (Part II)

© Sherrie Walker

A few months ago, I wrote an article entitled "Look Beneath the Surface." It was about Animal Allies of Texas' first rescue, a border collie/heeler mix named Pepper. Though healthy and with a sweet disposition, Pepper had been passed over time after time by potential adopters - passed over until her time at the shelter was about to run out. I went on to suggest that Pepper's "problem" was one shared by countless other unwanted dogs and cats - there was just nothing special about her appearance. People glanced at her and then went on to the next dog, not taking the time to find out how sweet and loving she was. They didn't bother to look beneath the surface.

Unfortunately, we often fail to look beneath the surface of people, as well. On November 20, 2001, the Dallas Morning News ran an article on the front page about an "eccentric junkman" who had died and left 140 dogs he had rescued. This man was not one of those mentally unbalanced hoarders you so often read about, who become overwhelmed by their own good intentions and end up keeping too many animals in squalid, unhealthy conditions. Granted, a wrecking yard might not be everyone's idea of the best place to keep a dog, but apparently all of the dogs were healthy and well cared for.

The man, Sonny Sides, chose to live in the wrecking yard with his dogs, preferring their company to that of most people. He presented to the world the face of an eccentric loner, a "loser" perhaps, a man who refused to live by society's rules. Yet just beneath this unconventional surface beat a heart that could never turn away from a dog that needed him. Two friends of Sides estimate that he rescued around 450 dogs over the last several years. Being animal rescuers themselves, the two women helped him find homes for most of them, and they are now caring for the 140 he left behind.

The hard work of caring for all those dogs hasn't diminished the warm memories the two women have of Sonny, who they looked upon as a sort of father figure. "It may sound strange," said one, "but we thought he was a gift from God." His two sons, as well, remember him fondly, even though he was never what one would call a typical family man. Said one son, "He was extremely intelligent and a very, very kind man, always a gentleman." Sonny Sides may have lived his life by a different set of rules than most people follow, but his legacy lives on in 140 happily wagging tails and memories of friends and family who knew the Sonny that lay "beneath the surface."

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