The Kennel

It was two months, three weeks, and 18 days when I Iast visited the stables...I...haven't been back since. I was afraid...frightened and too greatly disturbed by what I saw there to go back. I mean, at least I thought I saw what I saw...but whatever happened I'm sure as heck never going to forget it...

May 3rd, 1995 (two months, three weeks, and 18 days ago...)
I had never been to Hilltop Kennels and Stables before...even if countless times I had looked up towards the hill were it rested...I heard the horses and dogs occasionally, as well, when I would take a relaxing stroll up the mountain top where a small neighborhood was settled. I always meant to go visit the stables but kept putting it off all the time, every time, and I always regretted not putting aside some time to go check it out.

That is, until a chilly day in may when some old friends of mine happened to be visiting, we all decided to take a evening walk up the hill and go see the horses at the stables. I thought it was a nice idea since, as I said before, I had kept putting it off.

Unfortunetly, we got a shock when we turned the corner and saw the sign missing from it's usual spot on the grassy roadside patch, where it usually sat. It had read "Farmside Kennels and Stables" along with a sillouette picture of a dog and a horse. But it was no more. We began to question what could have happened to it in just a short amount of time since I last took a walk up there, until we all made a decision to go up anyway, out of curiosity. So, we began the long walk through the little neighborhood and up towards the small walkway-like entrance (more of a nature path) to the stables.

When we entered the clearing, however...our eyes went wide with horror as we attempted to take in the terrible sight before us.

It was in shambles...the beautiful stable...was in complete. Shambles.

All we could do was stare in shock as we absorbed it all. I mean, I never even got a chance to visit, and now the place was unexistent. I then realized I would never get to hear the sound of the horses again during my walks.

We walked around the clearing for a while still trying to contemplate what had happened when I noticed the dog kennel a little ways down. It really did catch my eye, though...like nothing else in the whole area. It didn't give me a good feeling, though. In fact it gave me a feeling of dread...like...I was being pulled towards it by some unknown mental force...but I didn't want to go. I was scared. No. Terrified...but that didn't help because I found myself heading down in it's direction, anyways. My feet were taking me like I had no control. It was important, though, that I see inside, I just knew that.

As I reached the bottom of the small hill where the kennel lay at the bottom, in disaster like the rest of the place, I eyed the outside dog runs. They were made of concrete at the bottom and were connected in rows (there were about 15 on the one side). I noticed that there was only a gate on one of them as to keep the dogs contained. I thought to myself how sad it must be for a dog to live here, and I considered that to be unusual however because the size of these runs were almost the size of an animal pound. There was definitely something wrong with it.

Then I heard a wimper...

I spun around quickly to face an opening in the small stone grey building that I hadn't noticed before...I heard that...it was definitely an animal...

   The opening had no door but I noticed as I got closer that it was pitch black inside. ''I am not going in there... ''But, once again, my feet seemed to float me away...gently...slowley towards the awaiting blackness.

I stepped in...

My feet, now from light as a feather, to brick heavy, I trudged through the blackness until I turned a corner and suddenly...I could see...yet it was still pitch black. Like in a dream, almost, except I knew this one was real...or was it?

But I could see...there was a long hallway, and it seemed to stretch forever in front of me. Then I felt the dread sweep through me as I remembered and realized at the same time that I was in the kennel hallway. Except the dread that I felt wasn't because of that...it was because of what I saw in the cages.

   There were dogs...one in every cage...

My eyes were wide but I could somehow contain myself as I began to walk down the hall. I looked to the side, into the pitch black cages, to see blood spattered on the wall and across the metal cage doors. The dogs inside were like nothing I had ever imagened. They were lying, unmoving at the bottom of each cage. There were toenails missing from the paws and their eyes were glazed over, nearly white. Their fur was matted with dried blood and their bodies were covered in gruesome scars. The worst part however was that many of them were still alive, and that was way worse then dead corpses, so I nearly got sick with disgust and my mouth opened with silent terror as I began to walk faster...still the dogs remained in the bloody cages, some with muzzles on...some with chains.

The hall never seemed to end until I finally collapsed and I shut my eyes, and covered my ears in attempt to drown out the whines and howling and whimpers that seemed to get louder and louder. I screamed...

Then it was gone...

It was all gone...the dogs were gone...and the kennel actually had daylight streaming in from the open doors. I could see perfectly well. It wasn't pitch black after all and the hallway was perfectly normal sized with only about 20 cages on each side instead of never ending streams. And they weren't bloody with the mangled bodies of dogs in them, either. They seemed...normal...but still gave off the eerie feeling.

I was still in shock by the time I stumbled back out into the clearing...my friends were still hanging around gazing at the abandoned pastures where the horses used to roam.

I said simply that I wanted to go home after that...I never wanted to come back either. I never spoke of it to anyone for the rest of those two months, three weeks and 18 days until I'm writing this.

I'll just end by saying this...I had found out later that the kennel was shut down because they had been accused for animal abuse...

Abuse on the dogs.