David CookAwww, my little snookie-wookie.
Come here, you furry pumpkin-shmumpkin.
(Don't act like you don't talk to your pet that way, too.)
"He's my boo-boo," said Kathleen Morgan, as she nuzzled up to her brown Yorkie named King, who was nuzzling back.
"He's my world," she said.
Man's best friend. Few things dig so deep into our hearts as pets. Life's just sweeter with them in it.
Especially when there's so little else in your life.
"I just can't afford to take him to a vet," said Loretta Hedberg.
At her feet was a drooling, wagging Shih Tzu named Toto. Thursday morning, Hedberg and Toto were standing in line outside Metropolitan Ministries, and so were lots of others: a man with his lapdog and a woman holding her black-and-white pup and another woman with a mutt the color of caramel ice cream.
And they kept coming, two by two.
It was Dog Days, when Met Min offers free veterinary care.
"It's helping me a lot, and I thank God for that," said LaShaunda Timmons-Brown.
In one arm, she cradled a brindle pup. In the other, a gray tiger-striped cat named Charlie.
"After 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,'" she said.
Golden tickets are hard to come by these days. Our city's poverty rate is grossly high, with no end in sight. Each week, folks line up before the sun outside Met Min's McCallie Avenue office, where they receive -- no strings attached -- so much of what they need.
A light bill paid. Medicine. Money for rent.
Last year, nearly 7,000 people arrived at Met Min, which calls itself our city's financial emergency room.
Every three months, it opens its doors for animals.
Oh, how the tails wagged on Thursday.
"May Almighty God ... bless, preserve and keep you," said the Rev. Valerie Carnes, of St. Peter's Episcopal. As she blessed the animals, her stole brushed alongside whiskers and tails.
"It reminds me of the sacredness of all creation," she said.
Folks made appointments for free spaying or neutering, then signed up for free dog or cat food through 4 Paws Pantry, our city's food bank for pets.
"Nobody should have to give up their pet," said owner Betty Crawford.
Along with Sandi Smith, Crawford operates the pet food bank out of her Red Bank pet bakery, 12 Paws. People can receive up to six months of free pet food on one condition -- they spay and neuter their pets.
Currently, 4 Paws is serving 35 families and distributing 600 pounds of food each month. For some, that free pet food is the difference between keeping their pet and having to abandon it.
"We helped one homeless couple. Their dog was all they had," said Crawford. "It was their family."
4 Paws serves Hamilton County, and wants to grow bigger, but needs more money.
"Exposure," said Smith. "We're trying to get on 'Ellen.'"
At the center of Met Min's Dog Days is Dr. Darlene White, a veterinarian from Wolftever Pet Hospital.
I like to call her the St. Francis of Wolftever.
A few years ago, White bumped into Met Min director Becky Whelchel at church. They put their heads together -- never underestimate the power of two strong women -- and soon, Dog Days was born.
"It was her tithe," said Whelchel.
Over the years, White has cared for hundreds, if not thousands, of Met Min animals. She gives them a rabies shot, some flea medicine, vaccinations. (Legend has it that White once used a pair of scissors to remove neuter stitches from an infected dog. And it wasn't just any dog.)
"A pit bull," said Whelchel. "With the scissors from my desk."
Quietly, gracefully, White loves and cares for these animals. They, too, are creatures of a loving God.
"The majority of animals we see are not neutered and have not had a vaccine in their life," she said.
A standing ovation is due to White. Dog Days is her labor of love, her wagging ministry.
And she's retiring from it. Thursday was her last Dog Days. Yes, it will continue, but not under her guidance.
"Companions," she said, when I asked what the animals meant.
We all need one.
Contact David Cook at dcook@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6329. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter at DavidCookTFP.