Pets have been on my mind lately. A friend has shared, on social media, a number of horrendous stories of heinous abuse of dogs. My cousin, Barb, lost her pet cat of 18 years—on her birthday. Dogs and (though they don’t want us to know it) cats seem to be the species of animals most capable of unconditional love. Humans are certainly incapable except to perhaps a very small few others. Thus, it is unfathomable how humans can so easily neglect and abuse these creatures.
We can learn much from our pets. My household has a 3-year-old yellow lab, a black cat that is around 12 years, a beta fish, and a gerbil. We lost a 16-year-old yellow lab last year. I am not a cat person, but—secretly—ours has gotten through to me. Sure, he screams to me for his food at 4:30 am and ignores me most of the rest of the day, but deep down I know he cares.
Having pets make us more caring people (with the exception of those who have no capacity to love, in which case they reveal our inhumanity and, perhaps, sociopathic natures). I know for fact that I am a more patient person after 18-years of dog ownership (though still a work in progress—developing patience with humans is hard).
We have a lab who barks only when people come to the door or other dogs are walking by. She refuses to stop when commanded. It is as if he is saying “I am here to protect you. Let me protect you. I got this.” Otherwise, she is as gentle as can be.
We need to be more like our pets—ferociously protective of others, forgiving to a fault, and always there to offer comfort. How did the idiom “going to the dogs” become a negative? When someone says “this country is going to the dogs”, why couldn’t this mean we are learning to love and to forgive?
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!