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How Dogs Can Teach Us To Be Better HumansThe Resource for Everything About Dogs |
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How Dogs Can Teach Us To Be Better Humansby Robert Potter
For those of you who are cable subscribers, you might be familiar with a show entitled ?Animal Planet.? It features all things fin, foul, mammal, and reptile. One of the featured programs on the network is Animal Precinct. This is the mammalian version of the program ?Cops.? Cameramen ride with law enforcement officials who are responsible for enforcing animal cruelty laws. And, like cops, they have the power to arrest and detain people who do not meet the requirements for the proper care and feeding of the animals in their charge. Punishment can range anywhere from fines to a number of years behind bars. Some examples of ?man?s inhumanity to animals? featured the officers breaking up a Pitbull fighting ring. A man in New York who let his Rot Weiller starve to death. Further acts of repulsive human behavior involved an individual who beat a German Shepard to death with a tree stump. The program, at times, is hard to watch. I find myself welling up with emotion every time they find another starving and abused animal. I don?t think that I could compose myself in the calm and professional manner that the officers display when they confront an offender. I do not suffer fools lightly when it comes to the abuse of animals. The only pleasure I can derive from the program can be summed up with one word - hope! Most of the ?creature features? responded to medical attention, or, were adopted out to people who could give them the love and care that they deserve. Take the case of a Cocker Spaniel, given the name ?Maggie? by one of the officers. Maggie was found tied to a pole in a borough of New York City in the middle of winter. Upon closer inspection it was discovered that her left eye had swollen to the size of a golf ball. When they got her to the veterinarian, they found that the eye could not be saved and had to be removed. Adding insult to injury, she also had cancerous tumors in her stomach. You would think that with only one eye, and having major surgery, that Maggie would not be an ideal candidate for adoption. But, this is a story with a much happier ending then you think. A woman from Manhattan adopted the dog, not only for her, but as a companion for another dog that she also owned. She mentioned that Maggie, renamed ?Honey,? was very friendly and affectionate despite her ordeal. It made me think of a Rudyard Kipling quote.. "There is no faith which has never yet been broken, except that of a truly faithful dog." Rudyard Kipling.. Honey?s plight also served as an epiphany of sorts. Even though this dog had been through the worst, she still looked for approval and affection from their human counterparts. I also realized how these innocent creatures should remind us of a simple biblical lesson. ?Forgive those who have trespassed against us?. As human beings, we should have an infinite capacity to grant absolution. I realize that some of us have experienced trauma in our lives that has rendered our ability to forgive permanently ?broken?. However, most of us will never experience such trauma, or endure the type of physical cruelty that some animals go through on a daily basis. Yet, a simple misunderstanding among friends or family, can render us incommunicado with them for months, and sometimes, even years. Our pride can prevent us from bestowing a simple apology. Our jealously can make us sick with envoy over someone else?s good fortune. Our human frailties are endless. I think of my own dog, and how unpretentious she is in her day to day life. She holds no grudge, does not care how much money I have, or the car I drive. She is always happy to go for walk, and is never embarrassed to be seen with me! If only we could be so free and forgiving. Our pride and prejudices go by the way side, we could improve our relationships with people, and forgive the imperfections of others. We all could learn a lot from a truly faithful dog..
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