In the Age of Disposable Lives: Responsibility

You don’t have to be very deep into the world of animal rescue before you start shaking your head and wondering at the actions of some people when it comes to caring for their animals. In a world full of Free to Good Home ads and animal shelters, animals have become an all too disposable commodity. Puppies and kittens come home to enjoy a few days of novelty and then are relegated to the back yard, a shelter, a dumpster and worse. Some are lucky to enjoy a few good days.

It’s something I think about every day. I think about it while I am scouring out the pet dishes and sticking them in the dishwasher. I think about it when I am dumping and refilling bowls with fresh cold water even when they are full. I think about when I make sure the dry food dishes are full and when I open all that extra special food at the end of the day. I think about it when wagging tails appear at the sound of the treat jar being opened. I think, there are animals out there who have no food. It makes me wonder.

I think about it during bath time when coats are scrubbed clean and all the animals are silly, happy with being clean. I think about it when the dogs line up to have their nails trimmed and give me big kisses because I tell them they have “pretty feet”. I think about it when I brush their teeth and laugh at all the awful faces they make. I think about it when I am sitting in the vet’s office and asking them to check the records to see who is scheduled for the next wellness check up. I think, there are animals out there that no one takes the time to care about. It makes me wonder.

I think about it when I am washing their blankets that they like to snuggle with on the couch. I think about it when I am vacuuming the cat beds. I think about it when I am retrieving the twentieth toy to find its way under the chair and place it carefully back into their baskets of well-loved treasures. I think, there are animals without a bed or anything to call their own. It makes me wonder.

I think about it when we’re out on a walk, whether it’s a hike or just a walk through town. I think about it when I jingle the car keys and they are just as excited to be going down the street to the store as they would be to be going on some grand adventure. I think about it when they are full of anxious, excited squeals on the way to a training class. I think about it through endless games of tug and fetch. I think, there are dogs who spend their entire lives chained. It makes me wonder.

But I mostly think about it at the end of the day when I haven’t spoken one angry word to the dogs and I have removed the cats from the counters patiently for the umpteenth time. I think about it when they lay their heads in my lap and I tell them how good they were today. I think about it when I see their big warm eyes full of love and hear the sighs of contentment that slowly give way to happy dreams. I think, there are animals that have never known any love. It makes me wonder.

It’s such little things, the tasks of daily living. They take mere moments of time. It’s food and clean water and a warm place to sleep and some care, patience and love. These little things make a life for an animal rich beyond its dreams. That so many find it too hard to provide these very simple things really makes me wonder.