Harvey（以下ハービー）が、妻と僕のところにやってきたのは本当に突然のことだった
「至急です、この子を預かれますか？」
その連絡を受けた5日後、僕らの部屋にハービーはやって来た
心の準備も追いつかないまま、ハービーと妻と僕の生活が始まった
預かりのきっかけは去年の8月中旬、妻に誘われて行った保護犬の譲渡イベントだ
イベントでは、保護犬を完全な家族として迎え入れる「里親」の申込だけでなく、里親が見つかるまでお世話をする「一時預かり」の申込もあった
妻はその場でスタッフの方から色々話を聞き、意を決して「一時預かりボランティア」の登録をした
本人はずっと前から、預かりでも動物病院の送迎でも何でも、保護犬に関わるボランティアをしたいと考えていたらしい
ついに第一歩を踏み出した！すごいぞ妻！
しかし、勇気を出して登録してみたものの、ひと月くらい全く音沙汰なかった
他の保護団体にも登録したほうがいいかなー、と悩みはじめていた矢先、預かり依頼の連絡を受けた
何やら元々ハービーを預かっていた方が、家庭の都合で預かれなくなったらしく、その後釜が必要とのこと
できるだけ早期の受入をお願いされた
正直、僕は慌てた
預かりボランティアの登録は、夫婦で相談して決めたことだ
一時でも犬と一緒の生活になることは理解していた
しかし、人生で一度も犬と暮らしたことがないのに直ぐにでも未知の共同生活だと？
妻がやりたいことは何でもやってほしい
とはいえ、命を預かる
僕は何をすればいいのだ
あ、妻は実家にいた頃ずっと犬と暮らしていた
そうだ知識ある者が近くにいるから習えばいい
そうそう誰でも何か始める時は「無知」で「素人」だ
保護団体も、預かり初心者にお願いすることは把握しているから、言うほど高難易度のワンちゃんなわけないよな、ハハハ
団体の方:「ハービーは糖尿病なので、1日2回のインスリン注射が必要です」
注射、、、？
飲み薬とか塗り薬とかではなく、注射？
皮膚に針を刺すってこと？？
はじめましてハービー！
今日からよろしくね！
君は、僕たちの預かりデビューなんだ！
僕に限って言えば、犬と暮らすのも初だよ！
そして毎日注射もするよ！2回！
注射なんて実際に持ったこともないよ！
やばい、いま文章にしてみるとやばい
すごい展開なので、僕は内心無理だろうと思った
しかし妻は「やる」と言った
そして僕たちはハービーを迎えた
I remember the day I started volunteering
Harvey came to us out of the blue.
"It's urgent, can you take care of him?"
Five days after we received the message, Harvey came to our room.
Harvey, my wife, and I started our life together before we could even prepare ourselves.
It all started in mid-August of last year, when my wife invited me to a dog adoption event.
At the event, there were applications not only for "fosters" to adopt dogs as a complete family, but also for "temporary" to take care of the dog until a foster could be found.
My wife asked all about it from the staff there, and decided to register as a “temporary”.
She had always wanted to volunteer as a dog care volunteer, whether it be taking care of dogs, taking dogs to and from veterinary clinics, or anything else that involves shelter dogs.
Finally, she took the first step! That's great!!
However, after she got up the courage to register, she hadn't heard from organization rescuing dogs at all for about a month.
Just as we were beginning to wonder if we should register with another organizations, we received a message asking us to take care of Harvey.
Apparently, the person who originally took care of Harvey was no longer able to take care of him due to family reasons, and they needed a replacement.
They asked us to accept him as soon as possible.
To be honest, I was upset.
We had decided to register as a volunteer to take care of a dog after discussing it.
I understood that I would be living with a dog, even if only temporarily.
However, I had never lived with a dog before in my life, and now I was expected to live with a dog for the first time?
I want my wife to do whatever she wants to do.
However, I'm responsible for the life of the dog.
What am I supposed to do?
Oh！ my wife lived with a dog all her life when she was younger.
Everyone starts out as an "amateur" and "novice".
The organization also understands that they are asking a beginner to take care of the dog, so it can't be as difficult as they say, hahaha!
The organization: "Harvey is diabetic and needs insulin injections twice a day."
Injections?
You mean needles in the skin?
（voice in my head）
Nice to meet you Harvey!
Really nice to meet you!
You're our first volunteer!
For me, it's my first time living with a dog!
And I have to inject you twice a day.
I've never actually held a needle before!
Oh no, now that I've put it in writing, it's bad!
It's an amazing turn of events, and I thought that it would be impossible.
But my wife said, "I'll do it."
And then we had Harvey.