Everyone I know has a dog. And each one of them believes that his/her dog is the most beautiful, intelligent pet in the world.
In many ways, these people would rather talk to their dogs than their friends.
Because I like dogs, I tend to be taken by enthusiasm. After all, dogs are irresistible.
In our household, all rules pertaining to dogs and their governance were simply waved. There are no hygienic dungeons and they are free to mingle with the pacific breed of human beings.
When I take them on a stroll, all they have to do is bound about and look endearing and their affectionate embraces would be affectionately returned.
I had a dog who knew distinctly how to endear himself to those who could do him favors. I took him for a walk, gave him food, sat with him and petted him.
Scoop was lovely and refined. He grew a coarseness of body and spirit as he grew older, but I wouldn’t hear any effrontery directed at my affectionate, noble doggie.
He died one cold night, while I was a freshman in college. The pain was wordless.
My second experience in true grief came when my eldest daughter’s dachshund (called Baby) was killed by a delivery truck one summer afternoon.
The caterwauling in the household surpassed a Spanish nunnery on Good Friday.
I heard this awful story from a newshen, which communicates the seriousness of a child’s engrossment over her dog.
Story has it that a six-year-old asked her mother where Papi (the kid’s dog) was.
Her mother had already spent the entire day bracing herself for the encounter. Papi was tragically run over shortly after the little girl went to school.
The mother decided to tell her daughter the plain truth and take the consequence. In a somber tone, she told her daughter that Papi was dead.
The little girl looked up, crinkled her nose, and asked: “Where are my cookies and ice cream mommy?”
Vastly relieved at her daughters stoicism, the mother went to the kitchen to give her a snack.
However, the child asked again: “Mommy, where is Papi?”
“ I told you darling, Papi had an accident and was killed,” the mother responded.
The lachrymose pandemonium that happened soon after she said that the dog was killed was something the mother could not arrest.
The little girl replied “I thought you said that PAPA had been killed!”
This is how intense a child’s grief could be.
At Johns Hopkins Hospital, it has been proven that cancer-stricken patients tend to live longer, when their pets are allowed to come and visit.
Dogs have a capacity to heal people because of their unconditional love. They welcome you with love and devotion, when you walk into your home. They are always happy to see you walk through the door with kisses.
Dogs can also serve as nannies.
Recently, a young single mother from Anaheim related how her neighbors complained about the noise the dog made when it was left alone in the house.
She placed it in the shelter, not knowing that it was a “kill shelter.” Her son pleaded, cried and cried for his pet.
Five days later, they drove to the shelter only to find out that the dog has already been euthanized.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimated that in recent years, three to four million animals have been killed each year in shelters across the United States.
“No-kill shelters” are trying to end this by increasing the demand for shelter dogs and cats.
HSUS saves all healthy, treatable and rehabilitating animals and advocates that spay/neuter programs as the most important technique in achieving “no kill shelters.”
Regardless of admission policy, their shelters work with locals or national breed rescue groups, who focus on finding specific breeds to enable more matching or potential adopters.
The City of San Francisco popularized the trend for “no-kills shelters” and had been able to keep San Francisco as a “no-kill city.”
India has the world’s oldest no-kill traditions, while Italy has outlawed euthanasia of healthy companions animals since 1991.
Bernie Kimmerle and her partner, renowned pet tech guru Chelley Hernandez Wilkes are coming up with a unique “love that dog event” at the Beverly Hills Country Club on October 26 for “no-kill shelters,” launching a humanitarian program of the Philippine Press Club of California, which goes beyond people.
I wish I could pass this as an elegant plead of support for a unique humanitarian endeavor, but I’d rather excoriate evil people who do not tolerate dogs in their kingdom.
