Someone that was here when I grew up recently reminded me of how naive I used to be. Much as I would love to point out she didn't know me then and definitely doesn't now, I guess that there is a certain amount of truth in it and maybe still is...
A perfect example of that happened today.
I had always assumed that people who abused animals knew what they were doing, and they knew it was wrong, but they did it anyway for unknown reasons. I thought I would never see someone do this, because why would they? Why would you abuse an animal in front of an animal lover? Or better, why would you do it at all?
As I have mentioned before, I gave up eating meat over a decade ago and that was because I love animals. I love them all - maybe not equally, but still. And before anyone says anything spiders do not count; especially if they are in my bedroom. HOWEVER, when my dog is sick, I cook chicken for him, because it's what he needs to get better. (Bloody shih-tzus and their rubbish stomachs.) Even when he is well, I will put his dinner out which is basically meat, meat, more meat, bit of rice, some veg and blend. I don't take issue with this, because I know that dogs would pretty much always choose a meaty option over a veggie option. I love him enough to get over the whole handling meat thing, for him, even if it's not ideal for me.
Now today I was walking the little fluff, and he has been really vocal in his disapproval of certain other dogs. Not being with him 24/7, I don't know all of the dogs that he has an issue with, so I'm being somewhat overcautious with the bigger ones that could actually do some damage to him. That being said, I make sure he is within grabbing distance so if he starts something, I can finish it.
Today we came across a man with two big dogs. He has one lead in each hand, but the dogs looked like they were trying to pull him in half, meaning it was a little bit difficult to get Ted out of the way, but as we approached and I pulled Teddy into a short lead, he did pull the one on our side closer to him to give us space to give him a wide birth. Now, Ted wasn't always so yappy with other dogs, and this mouthing off hasn't come from a specific event so far as we can tell, so I'm trying, the best that I can, to socialise him a bit better and hopefully calm him down a little bit, so I let him approach the dogs for a sniff, until they all started barking at each other, and one of the other dogs - thankfully the one who was furthest away from us - started growling.
Like I said, I keep Teddy in grabbing distance, so he was away from them quickly, I had the hold of the back of his harness and then he was in my arms within seconds and then I was getting us the heck back to the house. I looked back because I could hear the guy yelling at his dog, which I already thought was a bit unnecessary, but what I saw then made it worse. Not only did he hit the dog twice, he then started whipping the dog, who was cowering on the floor, with the lead of the other dog who he had, by then, let off of the lead.
After the whole thing of reporting this to the appropriate people, I still couldn't get it off my mind, because I can't help but feel that any time you have to hit your animal to regain some semblance of control over it, you have failed as a pet parent. And if you feel the need to not only use your hands, but employ some form of weapon against your animal, then you are the problem, not the animal. If that dog has previously gone to bite other animals or a person, why on Earth does he not walk him in a muzzle? Why on Earth does he walk him on a pathway which is highly frequented by dog walkers? This happened on the same day as another dog walker went off this path with a muzzled greyhound when he saw other dogs in the area.
I know for some people that this might be a small issue, but it is just the latest in a line of crappy things and it's also one of the small things that add together to be a big issue. The way we treat animals and women and the environment and communities and property, well all of it adds up. Okay, so smacking your dog for growling and going for a smaller dog is nowhere near as bad as intensive farming or the killing of sea life which occurs in several countries around the globe, but it's the same problem attitude that women are lesser. Telling women that they belong in the kitchen as a joke and allowing girls to be married and have children in their early teens aren't the same thing, but both are products of the belief that gender has a bearing on our value, purpose and abilities (shouldn't have to say this, but IT ABSOLUTELY DOESN'T!!!!) Dropping litter does not equate to dropping bombs anywhere you fancy, but you kind of see where I am going here...
Anyway, my point is that the little things matter, be they animal, vegetable or mineral. Catch you later.
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