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January
2008
I was compelled to write this story because of a discussion that I had with my granddaughter a few weeks ago. We were riding in the car, on our normal route to the grocery store and she asked in her mousy voice,
“Grandma”?
“Yes, Pumpkin?” I lovingly answered.
“Do you think doggies get sad?” she asked.
The question was so simple, yet so profound coming from this 8 year-old little cutie pie. I wasn’t completely dumbfounded as this little girl has more compassion in her fingernail then most people have in their whole bodies. I paused for a moment, looking out towards the cow pastures. Hmmm , how do I answer this one, I thought to myself. She is an inquisitive child who is at the beginning of her journey in developing morals and ethics and the difference between right and wrong. I needed to think carefully how to answer it, but I honestly couldn’t think of what to say to her because I really had no idea if dogs got sad. I decided to return the question back to her and asked,
“What do you think, Sweetie? Do you think that doggies get sad?”
“Yea… and I think that they get lonely.” She answered, softly. It almost brought tears to my eyes. She was so precious in her gentle answers.
“That doggie is always alone.” She said.
“What doggie?”
“That white fluffy doggie at the end of the road. He just sits next to his little house. Why do they tie him up, do you think he is mean? He has no brothers or sisters to play with. I feel sad because he has no friends. Maybe we can bring Ginger down to play with him. Do you think he would like Ginger?”
“Sure.” Unsure of my answer
I changed the subject, and she then carried on about Barbie Dolls. I was silent the rest of the way home, every now and then nodding my head and laughing at her cute little giggles. I had no idea how to answer her, but it made me sick inside to hear the profound sadness in my granddaughter’s voice. How did this little 8 year-old have so much regard for this animal and know that tying it to a tree may cause potential pain and loneliness?
I couldn’t stop thinking about her sad little voice. I now noticed the many dogs in the county that were tethered to trees, something I had never really noticed before. I was saddened by the depressing conditions of what I saw.
Driving down the county roads, many houses/trailers have large front yards, a car, perhaps a pickup truck and kids toys scattered across the lawn. At each house sits a lone chained dog staring into nothingness, as the world moves around him. Patiently waiting for something, anything at all, that would most likely never come. So bored and isolated, that any noise, like that of my car passing by, makes him pace back and forth on the small patch of packed down dirt while barking incessantly as if screaming “save me!!”.
I zoom by, glancing into the rear-view mirror and my heart sinks. The dog hangs his head in failure and slowly walks back to his spot and waits... waits for the next potential savior, again which will most likely never come. I thought to myself, these dogs live their whole entire lives tied to this tree, never to be free, what kind of life is this?
Since retiring, I have a lot of time on my hands and my grandkids have helped me learn how to use the computer and the Internet, which I have found to be the most amazing thing in the world. I decided to do a little research about the effects of chaining dogs to help me discuss with my grand-daughter as I couldn’t bear the thought of hearing the pain in her voice again. I needed to let her know that there was something we could do to ease her pain and sadness. I was amazed to see the amount of information, stories, and horrors of chaining dogs.
I have learned a lot from the Internet, mostly, from an organization dedicated to freeing chained dogs, called Dogs Deserve Better. The most horrific thing I learned was to imagine my life as a chained dog.
Imagine this:
Spending every waking hour from birth to death with your neck chained to a tree and being able to only move within an 8-foot radius. With barely any room to move, you are forced to defecate/urinate where you eat, only to spend your days pacing in your own feces and urine.
You are completely alone. You don’t have anyone to talk to, nobody to hug, kiss, or caress you. Absolutely nothing to do, but watch as cars drive by and a person occasionally go in and out of the house.
The chain around your neck is never loosened to expand as you grow and begins to dig into your skin causing bone deep lacerations that are never tended to or treated. The wounds become infected with parasites and mites that move through the rest of your body causing such immense itching that you start to actually scratch your skin right off your body.
Every now and then someone may toss a bowl of food or water your way, in many cases not far enough, where you struggle to reach the bowl of maggot infested food that may sustain you just enough to get through this day. In 100+ degrees, you have no access to shade and are left to fry in the burning sun. Or even worse, you are left out in sub-zero temperatures with no place to go to get warm. Left to survive in skull-cracking cold that leaves you shivering so badly that each night is a struggle just to stay alive and not freeze to death.
Day after day, month after month, season after season, year after year it is the same lonely, miserable existence. Living this way would, most definitely, cause one to have a nervous breakdown or go completely and utterly insane or perhaps cause irreparable psychological damage. A life so bad, but you have no power to end it all, your destiny at the hands of the very person you love and adore so much. This is the experience of a dog that spends his whole life chained to a tree. After reading the literature and seeing it with my own eyes, I decided that this is the real hell on earth. No living being should ever be subject to this horror.
I consider myself to be a compassionate person, but my 8 year-old granddaughter gave me a whole new perspective on how barbaric people can be. Between wars, terrorism, racial injustice, cultural genocide, rape, murder, child abuse and the list goes on, we can’t even be thoughtful and considerate to the smallest of concerns. What does this say about humanity? What kind of message does this send to our children? We can’t even muster up the tiniest compassion for our furry friends which seems like the easiest task in the world. Humans are responsible for domesticating dogs, and unfortunately they have come to depend on us for everything to survive: food, water, love and nurturing. Their entire existence and happiness is our responsibility. They are not wild animals able to fend for themselves, and with that I realize that we have let them down horribly.
Many of you are probably saying, it’s just a dog, but dogs are extraordinary animals. Think about all the different things that dogs can be trained to do. They can be trained to be seeing eye/hearing dogs, rescue dogs, working dogs, drug/bomb/landmine sniffing dogs, dogs that assist people with seizures and physical disabilities. Many times their entire existence is to protect us from the perils of life. We need to give them the respect and attention that they deserve. I am not asking you to let your dog sleep on your bed, lie in front of the fireplace, or serve him steak for dinner, but there is no reason that a dog has to be on a chain 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
A dog’s needs are simple and are the same as humans. Ask yourself this, why do I chain my dog? Are you so busy that you can’t spend 30 minutes a day walking, loving, petting or socializing with your dog? There is no excuse in not being able to provide the fundamentals of life for our dogs. I am asking you to give your dog the basic essentials it needs in order to be happy and healthy. They need food, water, adequate shelter, exercise/stimulation, companionship, and compassion. These require very little time, money and effort.
In the book, Dogwatching, Desmond Morris, writes that dogs “are social beings and they are also intensely exploratory. If they are deprived of companions- both canine and human- or if they are kept in a constrained or a monotonous environment, they suffer. The worst mental punishment a dog can be given is to be kept alone in a tightly confined space where nothing varies.”
What to do if you see a dog chained to a tree or cooped up in a tiny pen:
- Gently ask if you can walk the dog during spare time. If you have children or grandchildren, suggest they get some exercise and take the dog on a walk through the woods. Exercise is good for you and the dog.
- Gently offer to help them construct a fence around the yard, so the dog is able to run a bit and get some exercise. Small pens are just as bad as chaining a dog.
- You could go as far as to gently offer to take the dog from the owners. Many people are not intentionally malicious, but end up with a dog that they don’t want and end up sticking it in the yard because they don’t want to be bothered. It is common for animal owners to surrender their chained dogs after being made aware of the horrible existence. If you end up legally freeing a dog from chains, you can take it to a shelter and there it will hopefully be adopted by a loving and caring person.
- Perhaps suggest the owners build a dog door so the dog is able to freely go in and out of the house.
Consider your actions for the sake of your children because I guarantee your heart will break the first time a little one asks you about a mistreated animal. Because of my 8 year-old granddaughter, we actually now own the white fluffy dog that had once lived for 9 years tied to a tree. One day I stopped by the dog’s house and asked his owner if I could come each day and exercise him. He looked at me and then the dog and said. “You can have him; he ain’t worth a shit anyway”. His owner surrendered him on the spot and so he now lives on 100 acres with Ginger and other dogs, cats, chickens, and horses, living the life he deserves.
It is so simple. Ask yourself this. Am I a compassionate, loving, respectful person? Do I want to raise my children to be compassionate, considerate, sympathetic, kindhearted, and caring? People with these qualities are known to go farther in life. Be a good human; treat your dog with a little respect. You decide to have a dog, take care of it. If you can’t take care of it, bring it to a shelter or take it to a place where he will be adequately cared for.
Know that God is watching you, and every good deed brings you closer to the eternal life in heaven. Proverbs 12:10: a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Please take a vow with me to help end the suffering of other creatures that don’t have a voice. I am a woman of strong faith and my granddaughter’s few painful words taught me so much about mankind and what we have become. I would like to restore a little of my faith in humankind, please do your part in helping. After reading this article, ask yourself this question… Would Jesus have chained his dog to a tree?
After reading this, I wrote this Ode:
My best friend, Ginger is amazing.
She is the most loyal, dedicated and loving friend I have. I envy her endless amounts of energy and spunk. She is always ecstatic to see me or anyone for that matter. She never really worries and always lives in the here and now; she really seizes each day with such gusto.
She always has the most amazing outlook on life and there really isn’t anything that gets her down. She never complains and is never in a bad mood.
She is always smiling, positive, cheerful, and it seems as though her only goal in life is to be happy and gentle and kind to others. When someone is mean to her or does her wrong, she never harbors any ill-will or hard feelings. No matter what people say or do, she never holds grudges and always gives everyone the benefit of the doubt.
She never judges anyone. She doesn’t care what you look like, if you are smart, fat, tall, short, black, white, Christian, Catholic or Jewish. She loves you for you, not for what you have or don’t.
Ginger is always open to unexpected friendships with everyone because diversity makes life more interesting, and everyone has something to offer. Her motto seems to be: “Play more, worry less!” For Ginger, life is good….
Ginger is my dog, and I wish I had more friends like her…..
In my research on-line, I found this poem and thought it most appropriate for my testimony.
Please read the poem below.
At the End of the Line*
At the end of the line,
It's a lonely place,
Why even have me if this is the case?
At the end of the line,
There can be no joy
A pile of rocks for my only toy.
At the end of the line,
No pat on the head
A bowl full of food, if I'm lucky, instead.
At the end of the line,
No people to greet,
Although I'd be friendly to all that I'd meet.
At the end of the line,
A cold hard wet floor,
If I were inside, I could guard your door.
At the end of the line,
I just wonder why,
Is this really the way that you chose me to die?
~Lisa Stocks 9/13/2006
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