I've been in a deep blue funk for the last few weeks. I'm tired of ice and snow and short days. I'm tired of looking at my pale, pasty coworkers. I'm tired of leaden skies, wet feet, stuck cars, heavy outerwear, slushy roads and broken trees.
Today Lori and I went for a walk, thinking that maybe a brisk walk in the bracing slush would lift our spirits. We walked down Kaolin road for a while and enjoyed the winter scenery. BTW...Kaolin, for those of you who are remiss in your education, is a slippery kind of clay that's used as the principle ingredient in Preparation-H. The walk was nice, and I felt a little more engaged, until we got to the curve in the road where the county animal shelter is located.
I stopped to pet a couple of the dogs in the outside enclosures. They were glad for the attention...lots of licking and snuffling and trying to press their noses through the wire. Then Lori and I noticed one laying very still. Like, deadly still. Like...dead. Bastards!
I don't know that the dog actually died from exposure, but if it was sick, I'll bet the cold didn't help it's chances any.
Let's think about this. We round up dogs...strays, runaways, neglected and abused...to protect them from the harsh world. Then we store them in wire pens in February. Then they die. See? No more need to save them from the world!
Clever, eh?
I went home and called the Sheriff's office, but really what I want to do is bitch someone out. Maybe at the next County Board meeting. I'm not much of a dog person; I prefer cats and their "screw you" attitude to dogs and their "please, please, please"-ing. But really, I still prefer the company of dogs to that of most humans. And nothing deserves that sort of treatment.
So...the walk would have helped with the funk. But the Universe and the County conspired against me.
Oh...and my friend Mark just called and told me to let it go. I'll consider it.
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9 comments:
It's really sad about the dog. I AM a dog person and can't even visit an animal shelter because I can't stand not taking them ALL home.
And I'm sorry about your continuing really long winter. Come on down to Albuquerque. It was almost 60 today, and we have crocuses and hyacinths blooming; daffodils in a week or two. Have some travel site ping you for cheap rates and come on down!
someone needs to know about the lack of even basic care for that poor dog.
i don't know what can be done, other than to close the shelter down, which just exacerbates the problem, funneling the poor animals to some other overcrowded place.
that just sucks.
oh, as to your weather - we're just in a never-ending snow pattern. i'd rather have snow than ice.
it'll be spring soon, though...all the best for mud season!
Oddly, our crocuses are up too. I see their brave little heads poking through the snow. I know how they feel. (sigh)
I joked with Lori about springing the dogs and taking them home. I'm actually pretty ambivalent about dogs...they need more attention than I'm willing to give them most of the time...but in short bursts I think they're nice. But I'd rather be irritated by pesky slobbery dogs than see their dead carcasses locked in a pen.
Yeah, yeah...I know the world has real problems, but this one is in my backyard.
I think dead dogs like this one are related to the world's real problems. If we can manage to treat helpless other species well, perhaps we can then move on to the harder stuff, like darker/lighter versions of our own species or people who speak different words in their houses of worship or people who come from different countries or people who happen to be female. You'd think that it wouldn't be that hard, but it appears to be a very difficult obstacle, that concept of treating other beings like we would like to be treated.
"Hmmm, I don't like it when my family members are blown to bits when they go out shopping, so maybe I won't blow up anyone else's family members while they're shopping." -- ideal future thought of average terrorist (the terrorist who gave his two weeks notice)
Don't let it go. I agree with Flippy, sort of.
Don't let it go if you feel you should speak out. Just be prepared for them to do nothing about it. (yeah, yeah, ever the cynic I am)
I hate the world.
I don't hate the world, just huge chunks of it that involve people. The world, were it miraculously devoid of portion of what passes for humanity, would probably be a really nice place. Think of empty beaches and unsullied forests.
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