This evening I was out for a stroll with a friend near a beach in town, and noticed a small young dog (maybe 6 months old) wandering around looking lost. He looked a lot like the one in this photo. He had a rope around his neck, attached to two other pieces of nylon line, so it looks like he had chewed through them and escaped. I wanted to at least remove these from his neck, because they could snag in anything and everything, and were dangerous for him. I called to him from the other side of a small nearly-dry river, and he responded but he didnt know how to get across. While I was gingerly stepping on stones to get across the river, he wandered off to the beach and settled passively about 2 metres from a family comprising a grandmother, mother, and son and daughter aged probably 9 and 7 years. The dog was in no way threatening, he just looked longingly at the family as if to say: I am lost, I am hungry, please help me. The grandmother said something to the mother, who said something to the daughter, who - not from fright but maliciously - kicked sand into the dogs face. I was just approaching by then, and said firmly, dont do that, at which point they all looked guilty and faced the other way. Hes a friendly little dog, has obviously lived with humans, and rolled over when I stroked him to calm him down. I managed to slip the rope from around his neck, and had to force myself to walk back off the beach without looking back ... I really just cant take in another stray. I re-crossed the river, and by the time I got to the other side, the family were leaving the beach, followed by the little dog. Again the grandmother said something to the mother, who said something to the son, who cruelly poured a bottle of water over the dog and laughed. I firmly believe that people who behave badly to animals, also behave badly to humans. How and when can we educate people to respect animals, when this bad behaviour is passed down so graphically from generation to generation? And this was clearly done not from fear, but with cruel intent.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 19:12:52 +0000
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