While I will try and stay away from evangalizing too much (at least on the important stuff, I make no such promises for TiVo, unwatched TV shows and my personal campaign against Tim McCarver), something has been bothering me for a few weeks now.
I have been volunteering twice a week at the local Humane Society, if for no other reason than it helps add normal schedules to my life. I also can keep track of the days better, having a commitment twice a week. In return, the dogs get out, get a buddy for a few hours a day and some much needed attention and socialization.
Most of these dogs are strays or mutts or stray mutts, but late last year a puppy mill was raided and the Humane Society took possession of 150 rat terrier puppies. Most of these little guys are still being pushed through the system as they were too small at the time of siezure, but they are out the door within 12 hours of seeing the adoption floor.
This is a very good thing.
This makes me very happy.
'You don't have many dogs...' is a whine that is music to my ears.
However, let me tell you about Peggy. Peggy was a four- or five-year-old yellow lab that looked twice her age with sad, droopy eyes and a nose that had been punched limp by someone who thought it was OK to beat a dog in a cramped cage. Unlike the puppies that people drool over as they shake and sleep in the quieter kitten room, Peggy slept on a blanket in the back of her cage and refused to move.
When I say that, I mean just that - she had been beaten all of her life, doomed to lay on her side and crank out litter after litter. As people bought countless lab puppies at pet stores and from the breeder, Peggy was never let out, just fed and beaten every day for a half a decade.
When I first saw Peggy, she showed no aggresion, resigned to let people do what they would, and I needed to pick up her limp body to place her on a pile of blankets. To take her out was a two-person job, requiring one to pick her up by her middle and set her back down on her four feet. Two people were then needed to keep her upright as she tried to keep as low a profile as possible, despite two people coaxing and prodding her to get outside.
Peggy is on a long road to learning to be a dog again. For a few days the adoption staff would take her and her new bed to the front, where she got just what she needed - 50 people a day who would walk by and not beat her.
Peggy went home with a sweet couple a few weeks ago and should be on the mend, possibly moving around a bit by now as she begins her new life as a middle-aged dog.
Are all breeders evil? No. Are most breeders not on the up and up? I'd be inclined to say yes. Should you think twice about the next puppy you see at the pet store? Damn straight.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment