By: Joel Allen
Hello, folks! Years ago we had a neighbor who loved his dogs and, well, one of his dogs was killed by a Charter cable guy who was driving through to a repair job near our home. What had happened was the dog had gotten out of the yard and ran in front of the vehicle and was hit and killed. What made it a bad situation was the guy did not even seem to care what he had done to our neighbor’s dog because he had the “It’s-just-a-dog” attitude. When my Mom heard what happened, she immediately went over to our neighbor to calm him down, and lucky for the guy who worked for the cable company, my mom got our neighbor to calm down. He was ready to shoot the cable guy. When I think back on this, I shake my head and realize there are many of us who love our dogs more than people.
Mark Twain said it best, “The more people I meet, the more I love dogs.” How many of us think this way? I know I do. Call me a “soft heart,” but if I am watching a show where the dog dies, well, the TV gets turned off or I leave the room. I have been accused of valuing dogs more than people, and I own it. GUILTY! When coming home is your dog waiting for their “hooman”? I know mine does. Dogs look to us for their food and water. Dogs are never plotting to see what they can get from someone. The worse you’re gonna get are shoes chewed up, trash raided, your food stolen off the plate left at their level, or even someone getting bit. Dogs don’t betray their families unless there is some health reason messing with their mental state or they were severely abused. Other than that, they make the best family.
Think about it…if someone raised a hand to your dog, what would happen? Me? Touch my dog in a harmful way and you’ll find out real quick! Many of us look at our dogs like they are our kids. Some people refer to their dogs as babies, fur babies, or just their kids. I call mine my babies. LOL…when I went through a bad divorce in the ‘90s, I looked at my mom and pointed at my dogs saying, “There are your grandbabies because I am not going through that again!” She didn’t like that but what parent would?
Does anyone remember when the news covered a story of dogs being shot by law enforcement when the dog growled or showed any aggression when they were answering a call? I can’t remember the exact details or as to why it happened, but I did watch a video one time where a police officer walked into a fenced-in yard to check on the resident of a home. I heard on the video the dog barking and coming. The officer was trying to tell the dog to stay back and pulled his weapon. The dog charged and he shot the dog. Then the officer proceeded to knock on the door, and when a man answered and he told him he shot his dog. I would have lost my mind. Now everyone reading this, this article is not to add to any disgruntled attitude or hate for the police. In fact, I am a big time advocate of our law enforcement, so do not make from my article your reason for disliking the police. A lot of the news media just love to stir up problems for the police. Truth be told, it matters not to me if you’re a cop or civilian, harm my dog and you’re gonna find out how crazy I can get.
So, how many of us would save the dog first when the house catches fire? My thinking is I want to get everyone I love out so I am grabbing everyone. I won’t even crate my dogs while I am away, if I can help it, because if the house catches fire or something happens, and they could not get out or away, I would never forgive myself. There are many who think as I do I know. Is it wrong to think this way?
Where is your heart at? Does anyone think as I do? I know dogs don’t live as long as hoomans; the short time we have them is a bittersweet feeling because time does fly. I guess what this article is really about is to wake us up and enjoy the times we have with our canine family members.
Proverbs 12:10 “A righteous man regardeth the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”
All right, folks, I hope everyone enjoys February and I will talk with everyone next month. Y’all be safe now, ya hear?!
By: Joel Allen
January 3, 2025
