Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Dog day afternoon


Editor's Note: Commedienne Pam Stone writes her column for The Tryon Daily Bulletin twice each month from her office in the "Unabomber Shack" on her Gowensville farm. Want a chance to respond to this column?
Go to Pam’s blog at www.tryondailybulletin.com.
I have more than once told friends that if they ever hear that I have been arrested, it will be because I will not have been able to control my "inner mullet" in regards to treatment towards an animal. Living in a rural area, one simply sees more animals, I suppose, and generally, my dismay is inflamed by the all too common sight of wretched and lonely dogs, chained to a stake with little food or shelter and certainly no human or animal interaction. One can only imagine the despair of an animal that is imprisoned this way for 24 hours a day and always begs the question, "Why on earth do you have a dog?!"
Animal control can only do so much. I have telephoned them on occasion and they have responded quite promptly. There was a day last summer during the wave of 100 degree temperatures, that I drove past a young Doberman chained to a stake in the mid-afternoon. His owners were not at home and the pup had wound the chain around the stake until he couldn't move more than a foot in either direction. There was no water, no shade, and he was in such distress that he could neither lie down or stop moving, panting uncontrollably. Animal control arrived, unchained him and he bolted under the house for shade. Water was given to him that he immediately ingested and threw up. A "warning" notice was tacked to the front door as two pit bulls, in a tiny chain-link enclosure around the side of the house, barked profusely. I felt I had at least released the young dog from his distress that day but as the owners moved a few days later, taking their dogs, I don't know what the future held for him.
I wish I had the ability to articulate the indignation I feel to the owners of such animals. I go from zero to spluttering anger in about 4 seconds. I know by opening my mouth I won't be able to diplomatically reason or educate, so I stay quiet: a coward, ineffectively smoldering.
The same feeling washed over me as I drove along Highway 14 from my farm to town, last week. It was pouring: a raw, penetrating rain that my windshield wipers were useless against. Ahead of me, in the bed of a bright green truck, easily traveling 70 mph, were four adult, golden, Labradors. One was distinctly advanced in years and they huddled together, fighting for space behind the truck's cab, to get out of the worst of the downpour and wind. Untethered and agitated, they circled the truck bed, sat, rose, pushed against each other and waited for their ordeal to end.
It was all I could do to safely keep up with the speed of the driver and when we finally arrived in town, thankfully detained by a traffic light, I was able to maneuver up alongside the truck. He looked straight at me and my outrage was impulsively released with an angrily pointed finger at first him, then the dogs, as I mouthed the word, "Idiot!" He remained expressionless and continued on his way.
Man's inhumane actions toward man have always broken my heart and when it comes to animals, who ask for so little and give their all in return, I am beyond bewildered. It's the ignorance that kills me. I'm sure the owner of the Labs would have dismissed my concern with, "Ah, they've got heavy coats, they're fine." Or the people responsible for the thin horses in a nearby, muddy, field with no grass or shelter from the elements would wave a hand and say, "Hell, they're OK."
I think of the old cowboy proverb that says, "You can tell the inside of a man by the outside of his horse." Nothing truer was ever written and it applies to any animal. Man might like to think his best friend is his dog, but one can only imagine who his dog would choose...

2 Comments:

At 8:31 AM, Blogger maudeinvt said...

Hi Pam,
My Mother, who lives in Columbus, NC sends me your clippings, I am so glad I found you on-line. I am also a huge animal lover and former dressage rider. I can't wait to share your insights and humor with my friends in Vermont. Keep up the good work.
Pam Brown
Poultney, VT

 
At 3:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pam,
I read your blogs regularly, but I have never commented on one. However, this blog--"Dog Day Afternoon" requires more than a casual reading.

I believe something is missing in the hearts and minds of those who abuse other humans and/or innocent animals. Abuse is such a plague in our society that it makes me wonder if as humans, and as a society, are we actually regressing rather than progressing.

J. McKeehan
Tryon, NC

 

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