I am a dog, not a thing

[Michele]

I am a dog. I am a living, breathing animal. I feel pain, joy, love, fear and pleasure.
I am not a thing. If I am hit - I will bruise, I will bleed, I will break. I will feel pain. I am not a thing.
I am a dog. I enjoy playtime, walk time, but more than anything, I enjoy time with my pack - my family - my people. I want nothing more than to be by the side of my human. I want to sleep where you sleep and walk where you walk. I am a dog and I feel love...I crave companionship.
I enjoy the touch of a kind hand and the softness of a good bed. I want to be inside of the home with my family, not stuck on the end of a chain or alone in a kennel or fenced yard for hours on end. I was born to be a companion, not to live a life of solitude.
I get too cold and I get too hot. I experience hunger and thirst. I am a living creature, not a thing.
When you leave, I want to go with you. If I stay behind, I will eagerly await your return. I long for the sound of your voice. I will do most anything to please you. I live to be your treasured companion.
I am a dog. My actions are not dictated by money, greed, or hatred. I do not know prejudice. I live in the moment and am ruled by love and loyalty.
Do not mistake me for a mindless object. I can feel and I can think. I can experience more than physical pain, I can feel fear and joy. I can feel love and confusion. I have emotions. I understand perhaps more than you do. I am able to comprehend the words you speak to me, but youare not always able to understand me.
I am a dog. I am not able to care for myself without your help. If you choose to tie me up and refuse to feed me, I will starve. If you abandon me on a rural road, I will experience fear and loneliness. I will search for you and wonder why I have been left behind. I am not a piece of property to be dumped and forgotten.
If you choose to leave me at a shelter, I will be frightened and bewildered. I will watch for your return with every footfall that approaches my kennel run.
I am a dog - a living, breathing creature. If you choose to take me home, please provide me with the things that I need to keep me healthy and happy.
Provide me with good food, clean water, warm shelter and your love. Do not abandon me. Do not kick me. Do not dump me when your life gets too busy. Make a commitment to me for the entirety of my life, or do not take me home in the first place.
If you desert me, I do not have the means to care for myself. I am at the mercy of the kindness of people - if I fall into the wrong hands, my life will be ruined.
I will experience pain, fear and loneliness. If I wind up in an animal shelter, I have only my eyes to implore someone to save me, and my tail to show you that I am a friend. If that is not good enough, I will die.
I am a dog. I want to give and receive love. I want to live. I am not a thing. I am not a piece of property. Please do not discard me. Please treat me with kindness, love and respect. I promise to repay you with unconditional love for as long as I live.

http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-national/i-am-a-dog-not-a-thing

 

[tatlim]

Thats lovely and nearly had me crying...ive cried enough today thank you!
xx tina

 

[JanS]

Aww, is everything okay Tina?

 

[tatlim]

Yeah, im fine but i watched a video about a shelter in Istanbul which made me cry...they are barbarians, im feeling really sensitive today.
Have a home check tomorrow from a Boxer rescue centre so hopefully i will be cheered up real soon....fingers crossed, cant see why we should fail we have Zeuss already.

 

[timdon]

Feel like this is preaching to the choir, not that we all don't need to be listening. Good luck tatlim, and thanks Michele, we all need the reminder.

 

[Ingrid H]

Dang it Michele... You have made my eyes water again.

 

[MyBuddy]

If you abandon me on a rural road, I will experience fear and loneliness. I will search for you and wonder why I have been left behind.

This one hurt my heart the most! How people do not realize that a dog will feel this, is so beyond me! Dumping them like a piece of garbage! These are the people who really do feel a dog is a 'thing'. There was yet another incident on the news about someone throwing a dog out the window of a moving car! OH, I just don't GET that!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!! Sometimes I think I'll end up being that 'old woman who lives in the middle of nowhere with just her dogs, horses, cats, donkeys, chickens, cows, ducks, etc, and maybe even a tarantula!' I don't care! Just no people! LMAO

 

[Michele]

MyBuddy: I would be very happy living in the woods with the animals.

 

[MyBuddy]

MyBuddy: I would be very happy living in the woods with the animals.

Oh boy!! At least I'll have some good company!!

 

[Marinegeekswife]

Sometimes I think I'll end up being that 'old woman who lives in the middle of nowhere with just her dogs, horses, cats, donkeys, chickens, cows, ducks, etc, and maybe even a tarantula!' I don't care! Just no people! LMAO

Hubby and I have "plans" to retire to a compound in the middle of the woods back home in NW Arkansas, no people let in unless we approve them but plenty of Dobes and other animals. Just get so tired of stupid, rude, mean people day after day. The longer we live in a big city the more likely that half-joking plan will become reality.

 

[tatlim]

Just read on facebook about a man who had 2 dogs stolen, the police found them both shot dead!!!!
why would anybody do that to a defenceless animal?
xx tina

 

[Michele]

Just read on facebook about a man who had 2 dogs stolen, the police found them both shot dead!!!!
why would anybody do that to a defenceless animal?
xx tina

Because humans are mean and nasty. I don't even try to understand humans anymore. They are not worth my time. I will stick with the animals.

 

[MyBuddy]

Hubby and I have "plans" to retire to a compound in the middle of the woods back home in NW Arkansas, no people let in unless we approve them but plenty of Dobes and other animals. Just get so tired of stupid, rude, mean people day after day. The longer we live in a big city the more likely that half-joking plan will become reality.

Ah, we can make it our own little community of animal lovers ONLY!

Just read on facebook about a man who had 2 dogs stolen, the police found them both shot dead!!!!
why would anybody do that to a defenceless animal?
xx tina

Ugh, that's insane! I just sit here shaking my head and don't know what to say. Like Michele said, (some) humans are just mean and nasty and mean as much to me as a speck of dirt. It all goes back to this thread......some people only think of animals as an inanimate object, with no feelings or needs. Their hearts are hardened. If, just once, people like that would look into the eyes of an animal, they would see their soul, and perhaps....perhaps....compassion would stir. "All We Need Is Love" Lennon said it best.