MANS’ BEST FRIEND

 

 

 

What does the term friend mean? One that seeks the society or welfare of another whom he holds in affection, respect or esteem or whose companionship and personality are pleasurable. An intimate associated esp. when other than a lover or relative.

 

Best - Something that is best one’s utmost or maximum effort. The point of circumstance that is best all is they are willing to give even more.

 

So, why do we treat mans best friend as we do!   This prompted me to look up the meaning, I mean after all do you throw your best friend out if they say or do something that you find annoying?  Or do not want to see them any more because they are too big, too tall, too short, too small.  Or, is it too much hair or not enough hair or that they are just plain too noisy.... How can we call them “Mans’ Best Friend” when we attach all these little definitions to the name.  Or he is mans’ best friend when they fall into the category that we find to be perfect & what we want & anything other than that is a nuisance or bother.

 

A few months ago someone brought us a 5 yr. old male Shep/Lab.  They found him when he was a yr. old. For (4) years this dog was a member of their family & too their (2) girls now aged 7 and 9 years old.  They did everything with Maverick, (Mav.) including dressing him up for Halloween.  As they came “sobbing” the
one little girl told me she wanted to be a vet.  Course the mother was crying “crocodile tears”, boo hoo she felt so bad.  They were moving to Florida she told me.  I felt like saying “they do have dogs in Florida you know” but, I kept my mouth shut as hard as it was.  They left with the (2) girls sobbing in the back seat because of losing their friend & pal & of course the mother was crying the “crocodile tears”. 

All this time I was secretly wishing that maybe she would run into one in Florida, a crocodile/alligator that is...  Come to find out, they are not going to FL till next year & the mother has since got (2) cats to ease the pain until that time she can dump them at the local shelter.  In the wake she left a heartbroken dog that “howls” at night the most mournful howl I have ever heard.  He feels displaced & dejected cause no one seems to want him.  But their mind/conscious is clear because he is at a “no kill shelter” & will spend the rest of his days here if no one adopts him.   
 

We had a dog returned to our shelter today.  He was a medium sized  little guy about 35 lbs.  He was neutered, housebroke, loving & very laid back & he was the happiest dog I think I have ever seen..  All he did was lay in his bed by their woodburner.  But, he had one fault, he was too big.  Even though he fit into every
category that they wanted in a family member, he still was not “perfect”.  It took a week for them to figure this out.  Have we become so calloused that returning mans’ best friend because he was just too big is just like returning a shirt that was too large to the store.  A shirt has no feelings but this dog did.  It broke my
heart as I watched the man pet him longingly & say his last goodbyes & the dog just looked at the car going down the rd. wondering why he was being returned to this place.

 

I have a very hard time going to pet stores as I always think of slaves on the auction block.  Eyes peering, fingers prodding, pushing & stroking.  The dogs just sit there looking out wondering will I be next.

 

People should take the term “mans’ best friend” to heart.  An animal is a living, breathing, feeling person. At least that is how I think of them in terms of “little people”.  People like to absolve their conscience by taking them to “no kill” shelters.  In their mind the animal is safe & they can sleep at night knowing in their calloused hard hearts that they did the right thing. 

 

I even had one woman say she wanted to adopt & give a home to a shelter dog.  That was all fine & dandy so, I put several younger dogs in a fenced yard so they could play & her 11 yr. old boy was there.  As I opened the gate for him I told him he might get a little dirty, (dusty).  Being a kid he was eager to run in &, out of the corner of my eye I see mama's arm extend like the tentacle of an octopus blocking his entry.  Her words were "We'll observe from here."  Needless to say they didn't get a dog.  I mean "observe" That word conjures up someone looking at bacterial spores grow in a Petri dish. Then after talking to her I found out that she could not understand how someone could possibly have an animal in their home, hair, dander & such plus the ever present flea population. 

 

I could never understand that.  I mean you let people come in & walk on your floors & carpeting & god knows where there shoes or boots have been prior to walking on your flooring.  People then let their children then crawl all over the carpeting because if it looks clean then it must be clean & there are no pets allowed. 

 

We have found that animals are no different than children who go from foster home to foster home.  They  start to develop bad habits & have little idiosyncrasies that would not have shown up if they would not have been moved from place to place, home to home. 

 

There are extenuating circumstances as to why someone has to give up their pet but more often than not we have come to realize that a lot of people regard pets as  last weeks laundry or the new outfit or latest fad on the shopping mall clothes wrack.

 

The next time they go to adopt a “family member” they should look up the definition of “best friend” & make sure that they understand it before going to a pound or shelter to give “mans’ best friend” a “temporary” home.