Daily Mood Quote
Day 136 – September 16, 2011
Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life.
~Dalai Lama
This morning, I heard on a local radio show that pets (dogs, cats, snakes) were running wild around the city. It seems like the population of abandoned animals has recently just bloomed. Families that can no longer take care of their pets are apparently just letting their animals go. That includes exotic animals that don't belong here, like cougars, panthers, poisonous snakes and even an alligator. What in the world are these types of animals doing within the city limits in the first place? People live here, children play here... Don't they understand the hazards of letting these dangerous animals just run rampant through the city? Maybe the bigger question should be; how can people raise these animals then just “let them go,” possibly causing harm to their neighbors and their community? If you have ever seem what a pack of feral dogs can do to a deer, you would think twice about letting your kids outside, EVER. They don't fear humans like wild animals and they don't discriminate.
I am a pet owner, two dogs and a cat (our guinea pig passed away last March, she will not be replaced, she was one-of-a-kind and is deeply missed). An even though we have had our fair share of hard times, the thought to just let our animals run free has never crossed our minds. Our pets are a part of our family and have been for years. When they are sick, we take care of them, when they want to play, we throw the toy and they fetch (except the cat, she turns up her noise and walks away), when they die, we hold a private funeral service and share our greatest memory of the animal. They are a part of the family. Maybe that makes us different, but at least we are being different with dignity.
I should say that much of the story on the radio revolved around a recent coyote (the animal – Canis latrans) sighting in a populated area. That's a different thing all together. Invasive species, like coyotes, will always expand their range where there is opportunity. I read a story recently about global warming that stated that tropical species are expanding their range toward the poles at an alarming rate. Well, so be that. But to set your poodle, or house cat out to be coyote chow and invite them into your neighborhood by doing so, is just reprehensible. That's where the problem begins. These former pet owners fundamentally fail in three areas of responsibility. The first is to their animal; a domestic animal depends on their owners for care and in return gives loyalty and affection. Secondly; to their community. I use that term loosely, as so many of us don't even know the names of our next door neighbors. It's a civic duty to care for your animal and if you can't, to responsibly hand it over to an animal care agency. Its just plain cruel to “let them be free” when they have no experience in the “wild.” And thirdly to the world in which we live; feral animals can destroy local populations of naturally occurring animals and upset the ecology of parks, wild areas and even sub divisions. All because the pet owners chose to dump their “problems” on society instead of doing the right thing.
In the movie Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, we got a dog's eye view of what a dog goes through when they are “abandoned”. Shadow (Don Ameche), Sassy (Sally Field) and Chance (Michael J. Fox), belonged to a family that went on vacation and fearing they had been “abandoned” by their owners, they went off on a quest to find their family. This brought back painful memories for Chance as he tells his story, “I was abandoned when I was very young. I lived on the streets scrounging for food sleeping wherever I could; that seemed like fun at first, but pretty soon, it landed me behind bars. But I don't like to talk about that.” The point is, when we walk away from our pets who are one responsibility, we actually abandon a multitude of responsibilities. That's how you know when something is not right, the problems multiply. It's chaos theory, the single choice that is made, isn't just a single choice. That single choice often has far reaching consequences, beyond just one own personal life.
I wrote about this today because it made me upset to hear the stories of abandoned animals. I have written about my dog Chester in this blog, world's goofiest dog. Remember my husband's glasses? Still, he made a mistake, just like kids, spouses, partners, friends and family. You don't abandoned them.
How will you choose “responsibility” today?
Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote
Thank you for reading
