Day Two, Operation Fido's Freedom:
My Mission, Should I Choose to Accept It

Long before I started Dogs Deserve Better, I was on a mission to discover my mission. I knew I didn't want to die without making a difference, and judging by the nasty comments on the article posted in Penn Live today, I guess it's working.

I'm annoying the hell out of those people who's mission it is to cut down anyone with a mission.

Pretty crappy mission, if you ask me, but they're the ones who have to look themselves in the mirror every morning and say, "Well, who shall we abuse today?"

I spent a lot of time in the self-help book section attempting to point my life in a positive direction. Every time I would ask God what my mission was, a picture of the dog up the road would come into my mind, just like one of those little thought bubbles. I would shake my head and say, "no, God, that one's too hard. I'm gonna' need an easier one."

The dog up the road, Worthless (yes, that truly was his name), was a black lab mix with a stumpy tail, and a sweet as sugar disposition. I loved him dearly, but there he was, chained to a post in the yard, and always tangled around a tree. I used to sneak up and give him food and water, until they told me to stop. For two years I watched him suffer and grow old, until I finally could bear it no more.

I accepted my mission.

After today's chaining, I'm thinking about that old me who just knew chaining was too hard of a mission…and I'm wanting to agree with her.

What was I thinking committing to doing this every Monday through Friday? Not eating? Working late each night to catch up on the work I missed while I spent ten hours chained to a doghouse? Nursing sunburn, aching bones, stinky feet?

I am thinking that YES, it IS a very hard path to treed, but that's exactly why I'm here. If it were easy to live chained to a doghouse, for dogs OR for me, I wouldn't be here. But it's not easy.

It downright SUCKS.

And I know all the naysayers and nasty-grammers will say "people aren't dogs." OK, that's the one thing you've got right. People AREN'T dogs, people are MUCH more capable of living by themselves than dogs are. People don't need people the way dogs need people. Dogs are the neediest creatures on the planet, bar none, and to chain them up like their social nature doesn't matter is just beyond insensitive…it's genuinely apathetic.

One man touched my heart today. He was a big, strong-looking man from Juniata County with a short, marine-style haircut. He told me he hates seeing chained dogs, and every time he drives by this one mangy dog near him who spends his life chained, he feels so much empathy for the dog he almost wants to cry. This is one aspect of the whole need for a chaining law that people don't get…not only are the dogs suffering, but those of us who have to watch them suffer right along with them.

Why should we have to suffer because you can legally torture your dogs? It's not acceptable.

Today I sat for the dogs in Mifflin County. May you know your voices were heard, mores than ever before. In fact, we were part of a bit of a media frenzy, a big thank you to any media who came out to interview. Wave hi as you drive by about your Capitol beat in the next few weeks, you know where my house is: the Doghouse in the Shadow of the Capitol, Harrisburg, PA.

Observations from today's chaining:

1. Another big "I'm Grateful" to Juicy Rumors Smoothies and Juice Bar for allowing me bathroom breaks and supporting our mission. And to Deb Carr, Gordon Bakalar, and Linda Cribb for coming out to hang with me.

2. People here are still giving me funny looks, but the natives are starting to accept me. This would be a time that being extroverted would help, but alas, I look at them warily, as a chained dog who's been beaten before and doesn't know if he can trust again.

3. The weather wasn't too bad today, although I still got a little sunburned, hot, and sweaty. Unfortunately the next two days are supposed to be much hotter AND have a 50% chance of showers. Sweet!

4. A few people from the Capitol started to come out and tell me "We heard you were here." Can you imagine the water cooler conversation?

5. My new computer programmer friend I met yesterday made signs for us. They helped draw people in, which was cool. But, then they kept blowing over, and I felt annoyed that I had to keep putting them back up. Really? Like I had anything better to do?

6. LOVED the Channel 8 guys, they spent over an hour videotaping and asked really insightful questions.

7. Two guys in a pickup truck drove by and shouted "You're the only one protesting." Well, at least they can count to one. Probably have a chained dog at home.

Day two twitter tweets, in reverse order. Note, links are not live, so copy and paste them in your browser to see the info if interested.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/08/dog_advocate_chains_herself_to.html http://fb.me/ABXWHGRi Tue Aug 3 22:20:07 2010
  
Day 2, Operation Fido's Freedom: My Mission, Should I Choose to Accept It http://fb.me/CWyo4MVC Tue Aug 3 22:11:33 2010
  
End of day two. I was actually swamped busy after eleven, thanks to reporters and friends deb, Gordon, and Linda who came to hang with me! Tue Aug 3 18:09:11 2010
  
No lie, 8 reporters today! The bill will get great exposure on tonights local news and tomorrows newspapers. For once, chained dogs wr heard Tue Aug 3 15:48:08 2010
  
Halfway down in Day 2, and the fourth reporter just left. That's what I'm talkin' bout! Let's get this bill off the ground! HB1435! Tue Aug 3 13:14:07 2010
  
Two guys in a pickup truck yelled "you're the only one protesting." They must have a chained dog at home. Tue Aug 3 12:13:06 2010
  
It's been a good morning, two different reporters were just here, one's filming me teething right now. Tue Aug 3 12:00:33 2010
  
I'm annoyed that I have to keep getting up and resetting the nice signs Daryl made due to wind. Like I have something better to do. Tue Aug 3 10:45:59 2010
  
People from inside the Capitol building are starting to come out to talk to me. "We heard you were out here." good water cooler gossip Tue Aug 3 10:15:34 2010
  
Trying to sleep behind my sunglasses. Another thing chained dogs get away with better. Tue Aug 3 10:05:30 2010
  
Talked to the guy who drives the bike carriage. He's a scorpio, and down on his luck. Still better off than most chained dogs. He's free. Tue Aug 3 09:48:10 2010
  
My new friend Daryl--just met him yesterday--made two big signs and brought them by on his way to work. That was... http://fb.me/EfUdQzHD Tue Aug 3 08:49:53 2010
  
Day two: Today I sit for Mifflin County chained dogs. Pictured is a Bassett, a border collie, and a white spitz... http://fb.me/BYQvlvRA Tue Aug 3 08:39:33 2010
  
Wondering why I'm chained at the Harrisburg Capitol? Read day one blog at http://www.fidosfreedom.com. My new address: doghouse at capitol Tue Aug 3 08:19:19 2010
  
I confess that I already feel very weak after only one day of not eating. worried I won't be able to get my doghouse here when it worsens. 7:15 AM Aug 3rd

It's neat and sparkly day two! I'm reenacting Groundhog Day. Maybe things will change here by the end of the movie too. 7:06 AM Aug 3rd

Find your Senator and House Rep at: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/
Please contact them TODAY and tell them “I’m here for their law.”
Remember, they work FOR us. Insist that they support SB1435.

I will be actively blogging, facebooking, and tweeting daily from my chain.
To follow me, fan me, or read the nightly blog, check out the links below:

Follow the campaign, Operation Fidos Freedom on:

Can you donate for this campaign which aims to save tens of thousands of dogs from life at the end of the chain? To donate by phone, call 814.941.7447.

Dogs Deserve Better is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
To donate by mail, send check made out to Dogs Deserve Better,
P.O. Box 23, Tipton, PA 16684