why oh why
Just a few days ago, a man driving his car in Tampa witnessed a dog being dumped onto the street he was travelling on. This man had a dash cam and the video was posted online. The Chevy Cavalier in front of this man stopped, someone opened up the door, and pushed out a large brindle dog that appears to be a pit bull. As the car zoomed away, the dog wandered around in a circle, stunned by what just happened. The dash cam man tried to coax the dog to him, but the dog took off after the car with his people in it, the people he trusted, the people who dumped him on a fairly busy street far from home, alone and unwanted. The police said there is nothing they can do, but Hillsborough County Pet Resources (formerly Animal Control) is taking a different stance. According to the department's official statement: "Abandoning an animal on the side of the road is never an acceptable option and could leave the owner facing animal cruelty or neglect charges.” The dog is now being taken care of by Pet Resources.
I was adopted in January by a young, unwanted female cat. I came home from work on a cold, rainy Saturday evening to find a cat huddled against my sliding glass door. She cried when she saw me through the glass. When I opened the door, she scooted away but not too far so I put some cat food out for her. That night, I fed her seven times before she stopped crying for food. A day or two later, I was able to pick her up and I was stunned. It was like lifting up a piece of paper; there was absolutely no weight to her. She probably had not eaten in days. And the thing is she was once an owned cat because she is not feral; she walked right into my house, unafraid of indoor noises like my refrigerator (which is loud), fans, water running, toilet flushing, TV, telephone ringing. There's also a man-made notch in the top of her left ear which means she has been spayed, so someone somewhere cared enough about her (and the environment) to stop a parade of stray kittens. I've lived in this neighborhood for three years now and I've never seen this cat before. I did hear a cat crying a few times in December somewhere close to me, but I thought I was hallucinating the cry because my cat Denali had died a couple of days before Thanksgiving and I was missing him beyond any words. So I have to wonder -- where did this cat (now named Tula) come from, who was feeding her before she came to me, and why did they stop feeding her?
I don't understand the way of many humans. I once had two dogs. I can't imagine driving down the street, opening up my car door, kicking out Kodiak and/or Sully, shutting the door, and then just driving away, leaving my dog on a strange street and not caring what happens to him. I can't imagine not feeding a starving animal that shows up on my doorstep. An abandoned kitten with bright green eyes died of starvation because she went to my next door neighbor (I know because the woman who lived there told me about a kitten who came crying to her for food) and probably other neighbors who refused to feed her or get her to someone like me who would help, so by the time the kitten arrived at my back door in Tampa Heights it was too late.
It's beyond my comprehension that some human beings, supposedly with souls, supposedly created in the image of God, would blatantly ignore or engender the suffering of an animal or another human being. The very idea of it scrapes away at my spirit. This planet we live on is mystifying -- on the one hand, it is awash in beauty, creativity and gentleness, and on the other, violence, cruelty and ugliness. I guess this is the age-old conundrum of good versus evil. But it seems that the older I get, the more each side of this spectrum becomes stronger in experience, becomes more imbedded in my very cellular being, and I wonder just who am I anymore because too many times I plain-out can't identify with humanity. I feel like an outsider, dumped on a wild planet, left to forever run after the beings whom I loved who left me here to fend for myself. The monstrous events I see and hear about drag me down, but the integrity and rightness of those who act selflessly keeps me going, step by step, day by day.
I was adopted in January by a young, unwanted female cat. I came home from work on a cold, rainy Saturday evening to find a cat huddled against my sliding glass door. She cried when she saw me through the glass. When I opened the door, she scooted away but not too far so I put some cat food out for her. That night, I fed her seven times before she stopped crying for food. A day or two later, I was able to pick her up and I was stunned. It was like lifting up a piece of paper; there was absolutely no weight to her. She probably had not eaten in days. And the thing is she was once an owned cat because she is not feral; she walked right into my house, unafraid of indoor noises like my refrigerator (which is loud), fans, water running, toilet flushing, TV, telephone ringing. There's also a man-made notch in the top of her left ear which means she has been spayed, so someone somewhere cared enough about her (and the environment) to stop a parade of stray kittens. I've lived in this neighborhood for three years now and I've never seen this cat before. I did hear a cat crying a few times in December somewhere close to me, but I thought I was hallucinating the cry because my cat Denali had died a couple of days before Thanksgiving and I was missing him beyond any words. So I have to wonder -- where did this cat (now named Tula) come from, who was feeding her before she came to me, and why did they stop feeding her?
I don't understand the way of many humans. I once had two dogs. I can't imagine driving down the street, opening up my car door, kicking out Kodiak and/or Sully, shutting the door, and then just driving away, leaving my dog on a strange street and not caring what happens to him. I can't imagine not feeding a starving animal that shows up on my doorstep. An abandoned kitten with bright green eyes died of starvation because she went to my next door neighbor (I know because the woman who lived there told me about a kitten who came crying to her for food) and probably other neighbors who refused to feed her or get her to someone like me who would help, so by the time the kitten arrived at my back door in Tampa Heights it was too late.
It's beyond my comprehension that some human beings, supposedly with souls, supposedly created in the image of God, would blatantly ignore or engender the suffering of an animal or another human being. The very idea of it scrapes away at my spirit. This planet we live on is mystifying -- on the one hand, it is awash in beauty, creativity and gentleness, and on the other, violence, cruelty and ugliness. I guess this is the age-old conundrum of good versus evil. But it seems that the older I get, the more each side of this spectrum becomes stronger in experience, becomes more imbedded in my very cellular being, and I wonder just who am I anymore because too many times I plain-out can't identify with humanity. I feel like an outsider, dumped on a wild planet, left to forever run after the beings whom I loved who left me here to fend for myself. The monstrous events I see and hear about drag me down, but the integrity and rightness of those who act selflessly keeps me going, step by step, day by day.
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