Not Reggie?

Anthony was truly surprised by what the letter said next, “I need to share one more bit of info with you, his name is not Reggie. I don’t know what made me do it exactly, but when I dropped him off at the shelter, I just told them his name was Reggie.” So the dog was not called Reggie. But why did the owner give a fake name at the shelter?

Reason Behind The Name

“He’s a clever dog; he’ll get used to it and will respond eventually. But I couldn’t bear to give them his real name. For me to do that, it would feel so final, that handing him over was admitting that I’d never see him again.” Anthony realized how painful it must have been for the owner to give away his dog. 

Call Me Tank

The letter read, “If I end up coming back and tearing up this letter then everything is fine, but if someone else is reading this, then his new owner should know his real name. It will help you bond with him. Who knows, maybe you’ll even notice a change in him if he’s been difficult. His real name is Tank because that’s what I drive.”

More Questions

So the dog’s real name was Tank. Anthony could tell by reading this letter that the owner loved Tank immensely, which is what confused him. Why did he put the dog up for adoption if they loved each other so much? Out of all the possible reasons Anthony could imagine, the truth turned out to be far from his expectations.

In The Event Of…

The letter read, “I told the shelter that they couldn’t put my dog up for adoption until they received word from my commander. There was no one I could’ve left Tank with. It was my only real request of the Army upon my deployment to Iraq that they make one phone call to the shelter in the ‘event of…’ to tell them Tank could be put for adoption.”

He Is My Family

Anthony found himself getting emotional now, this was too depressing. He continued reading though, “Well, this letter is getting depressing, even though, I am just writing it for my dog. But dogs can be like family and he has been with me for the past six years, almost as long as the Army has been my family.”