Ever wondered about the dog called Lucy that Gibbs rescued from an abusive owner? What was her life like before meeting NCIS? How did she feel about living with Gibbs? Well, here is her entire life story through her eyes. Learn about all the adventures she had before finding where she truly belonged.

I do not own NCIS or its characters, including Lucy Dog.

Also, I've left an important message at the end of this chapter. It's vital that you read it!

My name is Lucy. Lucy Dog. Yes, I am a dog. What did you expect? This is my tale and I'm the only one here who actually has a tail, better yet, one that's fully functional. It's wagging right now as we speak.

No, no. You're not gonna do Speak. I'm what you humans call the narrator here. I'm the only one who will be doing the speaking. You just be a good little human and Sit. That's it. Good person. Here's your reward, hearing my epic tale. And let me tell ya, it's been quite an adventure. More than what I would have liked. Could you believe that in my first few years of life, I've been with five different homes, put in two shelters, forced to do things no dog wants to do, I'd even survived being hit with bullets. Hey, don't you frown now. My story isn't all bad. Along the way, I made great friends, learned what a good owner really is, was introduced to tons of delicious meals, and I even became a hero overnight. But, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning. Back to my first moments of life.

I was born on a crispy fall morning in a warm kennel. The third to be born in a litter of seven. My mother was a beautiful white dog with blue eyes called Wynter. I don't know who my father dog was, but I guess he had darker fur since me and my siblings all had dark coloring. My earliest memories were me snuggling up besides my siblings as we fought over our mother's milk.

Each day, a female human would visit out kennel, give us a clean blanket and fed our mother. She also sat by our mother to speak to her for a few hours. When we were old enough to stand on our own paws, that woman introduced us to the outside. It was a wondrous world! There were new smells, fresh air, soft flooring, tiny creatures to chase, and the sunshine warmed my entire puppy body. Oh, I loved it so much that I hated leaving it. But my mother's human friend took us right back inside our building home after we finished our business. As disappointed as I'd been to leave that place, at least she was kind enough to take us back out again multiple times a day. And she gave me lots of gentle pats after I was the first of my siblings to figured out how to walk out the back door to the outside world and back into our kennel again.

I was also the first to be told about how a shelter worked. While the rest of my siblings rested, I remained fully awake. My mother had scolded me about getting enough rest. "Little one, you need to sleep. Good puppies who listen to their mothers get adopted."

My seven week old self looked up at her with a curious stare. "What's adopted?"

It was then that she explained. "This place we're living in is called a Shelter, little one. It's a place where dogs who don't have homes go to find families that need a dog."

"Why we here, Mother? Isn't female human ours?"

My mother shook her head with a frown. "She is just a care-taker here. But she is not our owner. I had an owner once. But he was taken away from me."

My curious youth got the better of me. "Who took your owner away?"

My mother whined. "Bad humans that had shiny things on their belts and wore blue clothing came to our mansion one night. When they bounded my owner's hands behind his back with chains, I tried to tell them to leave. But one of them put a loop around my neck, carried me into a van and took me here." She started to cry. "I never saw my man again."

At that moment, I felt awful. I may have still been a puppy, but even I could sense that my mother was upset thinking about her owner. Even if I had been too young to understand why losing an owner could hurt so much, it seemed to make my mother feel as if her favorite chew toy had been stolen. Instinctively, I pressed my body against her chest to comfort her.

She gratefully licked me. "Someday, you will find a human family that will take you with them. That's what it means when a human adopts you."

I'd given her a worried look. "But, want to stay with you, brothers and sisters."

"Now, pup. All dogs have to leave the litter eventually. I had to leave all four of my sisters when my owner adopted me. It will be hard at first. But you will see, once you settle in with your new family, it will all work itself out."

Still so young, I didn't fully understand why I had to leave to be with humans. I loved my dog family and didn't want to lose it. Besides, the shelter woman took such great care of us. I didn't want to leave.

Then, I turned ten weeks old. Me and my siblings were taken one by one to a room with lots of lights, where a woman with white gloves poked us with needles. Oh, how I hated it. But at least it was over quickly. And I got a tasty treat right after. My siblings and I were then taken to a room with lots of barking dogs. We were put in an empty kennel while our mother was put in the kennel next to ours.

The shelter woman patted my head. "Today's adoption day for you all!"

While I couldn't fully understand most of the shelter woman's words, I did understand one of them. Adoption. Meaning, I was going to have to say goodbye to my family. My stomach ached knowing what was to come.

However, once the humans arrived, my outlook completely changed. The dogs in the other kennels shouted that they were ready for a new start in life. Some bang on their doors begging for someone to let them out. Every now and then a human would stare at one of the dogs, ask for them to be released, then walk away with the dog. Both human and dog always had happy looks as they left with each other. Was that what getting adopted looked like? A funny feeling inside me wanted me to yelp for one of those humans to pick me. I ignored it, till the humans walked up to us.

One woman and a little girl made awing sounds as they looked at us. "Where did they come from?" The little girl asked.

The shelter woman answered "their mother's original owner used her as a guard dog. That guy didn't even know she was pregnant. When he got arrested for drug possession, she was brought here and gave birth shortly after. They all spent sometime in quarantine, now they're ready to find loving homes of their own."

The little girl looked at each of us with adoring eyes. Then she pointed to my littlest brother. "That one!"

The shelter woman took my brother and put him in the girl's arms. The kid embraced him and he snuggled against her. I'd never seen my brother so joyful like that before. It made me jealous.

"Hey, I want that!" I yipped.

"You will" my mother scolded me. "Just wait till your humans find you."

I didn't pay attention to my mother. My eyes were focused on the girl snuggling my brother. "I'll call you Leo!" the girl yelped.

My brother yipped. "Yay! I'm no longer called brother, puppy or runt! I have a new name and it's Leo!"

Well, guess I wasn't going to be the first to get adopted. My littlest brother found his family first. He had been the last of us to be born, go outside, be fed, and everything else. But he was the first to get adopted.

Still, I took it very well. "Have a nice life, Leo" I'd called to him.

He yipped at me. "Good luck finding your family."

And as if Leo's wish for me to have good luck charmed me, it came true. For right away Leo left with his new family, I was about to be the next pup to find hers.

They were a family of four. One adult male, one adult female, one little girl and one little boy. At the time, they looked like the perfect family to me. And as fate would have it, I was the only one of my siblings who'd been brave enough to crawl onto the little girl's lap when the family were meeting us. When I'd given the girl's younger brother a lick, it sealed the deal.

Both the adults laughed. "This is the one."

The shelter woman patted my head. "Congratulations!"

My mother barked. "Goodbye, my baby. Have a wondrous life ahead."

The shelter woman gave my mother a pet through the bars. "Don't worry, Wynter. I got four families interested in adopting you. I'll make sure you get the best one of them."

And so I went with my new family. They took me to their one leveled home in a tall building. There, I was given my own bed next the the parents' larger one, a food and water bowl, squeaky toys and my very own collar that held my new name, Cupcake.

Before I continue, I have something to explain. To be clear, we dogs have a certain duty towards our family. My mother used to say that since we have four paws, we have four responsibilities. Protect, Clean, Exercise, and Love. Protect means that you must ensure your family is safe and all threats are met with a growl and/ or bite. Clean involves cleaning up any messes humans drop on the floor and licking up any unattended food. Exercise is when you burn off your owner's energy by having them take you on walks and play with you. And most importantly, you have to give your family unconditional love, especially when they needed it. All of these responsibilities I did my best to uphold while I was with my first owners.

During my puppy days, I made sure the kids got enough exercise by playing tug-a-war and wrestle with me. The parents got their exercise by taking me on walks around our town. I cleaned up any food that was dropped on the floor or the kids gave me from under the dinner table. Although, I did spit up the green stuff whenever they weren't looking. I could tell why the kids didn't eat that stuff, it was gross! Whenever no one was home, I laid on my bed constantly on alert for any danger. Nothing bad did ever happen, mostly thanks to me being on guard. I also provided each family member with licks to let them know how much I loved them. In return, they all fed, cleaned and provided me with their love.

As I got bigger, things got even better. The little boy became old enough to go on walks with me and the rest of the family. We always went to a place called the Park, where there were lots of other dogs, smells and trees to pee on. The girl eventually got old enough to take me on walks all on her own. Sometimes, she did it while riding something called a bike. I would walk alongside her as she steered that thing around town. After picking up an ice cream treat, we would sit on a bench and eat our yummy treat. Oh, how I loved it when I got to have that delicious vanilla ice cream cone! We'd do that once a week, unless it was during those snowy days. At least the snow made playing ten times more fun. I mean, what's better than catching a snowball? Nothing, that's what!

Twice the snowy days came and went. Even though I was no longer a puppy, I still played with the kids. And even though they were a bit bigger, they were still lots of fun. It was a great life.

Then one day, the girl got hurt after falling off her bike. I was there when it happened. I tried to comfort her with licks. But she kept on crying. Thankfully, an older woman was there and called the parents. They came and took us home. The girl stopped crying once we were home. She had a big red bump on her arm, but she was alright. However, a woman in clean clothing and a clipboard did stop by the next day to check up on her. After taking a tour around the apartment, she wrote lots down on her clipboard. When she took notice of me, her eyes widen and frowned as she wrote harder. My adult owners sat down with her in the living room as they spoke very firmly to one another. The clean clothing woman pointed at me a couple of times, which made my owners frown.

"So what if she is a Pit Bull?" My male owner had asked.

The cleaned woman stared down at her clipboard. "They're dangerous. Dogs like that are not safe around children."

"But, we've had her since she was a puppy" my female owner spoke.

"Besides, Emmy and Harold are ten and six" my male owner spoke up. "They're old enough to handle any dog, especially one that's been with us for almost two years."

The cleaned woman still frowned. "Not if it's a vicious breed."

My female owner became very upset. "Please, you should see her with them. She's so gentle."

"It's your choice. Either you have that dangerous animal removed or I deem you both unfit to raise your children."

Both of my owners widen their eyes. "That's so not fair! Cupcake wouldn't hurt a fly."

The cleaned woman gave them a piece of paper. "Remove the dog by Thursday or I will have both children removed and placed in foster care."

Right after she left, my owners stared at me with the saddest looks I'd ever seen on them. I tried to comfort them with my licks, but that just made them sadder. "The Child Welfare Agent said that we either remove the dog or she'll remove Emmy and Harold" my male owner told my female owner.

"She's been with us since she was little" my female owner spoke worriedly. "Cupcake is just as much a part of this family as our children."

"But what will happen when our real children are taken away?"

"Well, then we'll fight it in court!"

He stared at her with wide eyes. "Are you crazy? Lawyers cost way too much. Not to mention the entire process takes way too long. You know what happened to Spencer's kids when Child Services took them away from him. He fought the courts. But those dam people put his kids up for adoption and placed them all in new homes. They never even gave him a chance. What makes you think they'll give us a chance."

My female owner petted my head. "We aren't Spencer. He was on his own. We have each other. And that woman can't take our children away just because she has a thing against Pit Bulls."

"But…"

"We'll get through this, together. As long as we all have each other. You, me, Emmy, Harold, and Cupcake. We are all in this."

Even though I'd managed to learn a bit of human language over the years, I didn't understand any of what they were saying. Child Service? Lawyers? Court? What did all those words mean? Oh well, if I was still being loved, that was all I needed to know.

But the very next day, everything changed. The kids went out to go to a place called School as usual. My female owner left to go to her workplace. I was left with my male owner. Shortly after everyone left, he asked to take me out. Course, I said yes. What dog wouldn't say yes to going out? He'd even surprised me by letting me ride in his car. He rarely did that. Despite the enjoying ride, he seemed pretty down. This was odd. How could anyone be sad about car rides?

While I had my head out the window, he spoke on his phone. "No, Spencer, I didn't tell them. I know that she said Cupcake is part of this family. But you know how Child Services is. They'll take Emmy and Harold as soon as they know that a Pit is still living with them. No, I'll just tell them that she got hit by a car and didn't survive. Best that they never know about this. I'm taking her to a lesser known shelter downtown. Figured that the shelter we got her from shouldn't know about us dropping her back. They may fine us or something."

I wished that I'd been paying better attention to what my male owner was saying. Cause, the next thing I knew, we were arriving at yet another shelter. When he took me out, I realized that this wasn't the same shelter that I'd been born at. This one was smaller and rusted. As we walked in, I was met by the loud sounds of barking dogs begging to be let out. It made me tremble in fear. I'd pulled on the leash to get my owner to leave this sorrowful place. But he was too busy speaking to the woman at the front desk.

"Owner surrender?" The woman at the desk asked with a sad tone. "It's a shame to see good dogs like her be brought to places like this. Let me guess, it has to do with her being a Pit Bull, isn't it?"

My owner frowned as he signed some papers. "Something like that."

"I swear, people can be so quick to judge based only on looks. I can't tell you how many dogs like her we got here alone. All because some places deem them dangerous. A bunch of bricks if you ask me."

My owner didn't say anything more. Until the desk woman put a looped leash around my neck and took my collar off. He patted my head one final time. "Good luck, girl." Then he left through the front door. I never saw him or the rest of my first human family ever again.

That was how I ended up at the shelter for the second time. I wish that I can tell you that my troubles ended there. But truth be told, they were only just beginning.

It always breaks my heart when a dog like Lucy who used to live with a family is surrendered. It's worse if it's because their dog was labeled dangerous due to what breed they are. No animal should go through such loss like that. Don't you agree?

P.S. The Albatross, the world's largest sea bird, master of soaring flight, with a wide range along the Southern Ocean and North Pacific is facing devastating declines in population. This is mostly due to longline fisheries, which contain and catch bait that these birds are attracted to and become hooked on the lines and drown. Approximately 100,000 albatrosses are killed this way every year, 1/3 of which are caused by illegal and unregulated fishing fleets. An even more tragic cause for albatross mortality is the consumption of marine debris, mainly plastic, that they mistake for food. Birds are found with bellies filled with trash, including cigarette lighters, toothbrushes, syringes, toys, clothespins and every other type of plastic material. About 40 percent of albatross chicks die due to dehydration and starvation from trash filling their bellies providing no nutrition. It has been estimated that albatross feed their chicks about 5 tons of plastic a year. Since albatrosses usually have only one chick per year, this species is in real danger of extinction because they are unable to breed fast enough to keep up with population declines. If we wish to save them as well as other sea birds and sea life, we must make a difference now! And that means changing our diet. Fisheries continuously capture fish because so many people consume it. But if more people demand less of it, fisheries wouldn't have to take so many. The truth is, there is not enough of fish in the sea. So we need to be responsible about how much fish we consume and how many we take from the ocean. By doing so, Albatrosses and other marine life will be safe from fish netting and fish populations can be able to thrive and repopulate. As for ending plastic pollution, one way is to stop using single-use plastic. Instead of buying water from plastic bottles, purchase reusable water bottles that you can be filled up easily (can save you more money too). Also don't forget to recycle any plastic you have. It takes thousands of years for plastic to decompose. So the less we use and the more we reuse of plastics, the better it is for our oceans and ourselves. And if you're ever at the beach, make sure that you be considerate and pick up any trash you see (especially if it is plastic). Every little action we make can have massive results for Albatrosses and other wildlife.