Monday, May 22, 2006

Welcome Back, Trotter

Awww, Frankie... you big marshmallow...

Frank the Tank wrote today about how people empathize with animals and added his thoughts on Vinnie Barbarino and his broken leg. We here at Siberia, Minnesota wish the best for him and for the rest of the Sweathogs, may they be spared the butcher's block.

Our thoughts are with you, fellas.

He brings up some good points, though, and here are my two cents.

For as many knuckleheads who walk through the doors of the Humane Society, you get a few who really stick with you. There are a few I've met who are just now ready to maybe start looking for pets after their dog or cat died years ago.

One woman came in every day just to see if a cat who'd run away had shown up yet. I'd see her twice a week, say hello, chat for a little while and she'd make a pass through the kennels and be on her way.

After two weeks of this, I asked when the cat went missing. "Almost two years ago," she said.

Not that she was a crazy cat lady or anything, she's a very sweet woman in her 40s or 50s and I'd bet she's still stopping by in the afternoon.

It's kind of nice to see people care so deeply for something other than the usual career, house, car type thing. Don't get me wrong, there are far too many people who see animals as accessories (we're looking at you, Paris Hilton...) or toys for their kids, but on the whole, I need to believe that the majority of pet owners care more for their animals than say, the neighbor's kids.

Sometimes animals aren't convenient and sometimes they'll drive you crazy (I'll spare posting pictures of dog shit on the basement carpet) but on the whole they make the everyday crap seem a lot easier to handle.

I'll stop here before launching into a Hallmark card on the wonders of dogs, but it's nice to know more animals are sleeping on the foot of someone's bed tonight than in cages or garages. Or so I like to tell myself.

(Photo from: HollywoodTeenMovies.com)

No comments: