Friday, November 21, 2008

The Humane League

There is a woman in my neighborhood who walks her dogs. And by walks, I mean she holds one puff shaped little pup under each arm and walks. They don't...just her.

She is what you call a 'dog person.' I however am not.

Upon noticing this about myself I felt oddly a kin to the likes of a serial killer. I mean, there had to be that one day when the light bulb went off and they realized, 'wow, some people actually care if they are the reason for another persons demise...hmmm....that's odd.' This is me and pets. I'm that jerk who says 'WHAT?!?!?! You paid HOW MUCH to get you dog CHEMOTHERAPY???? What ON EARTH were you thinking?!?!?' I cannot fathom that type of innate compassion for an animal. To me this is absolute insanity. Don't get me wrong, it saddens me to think of dogs being put to sleep or hit by cars, but at the same time...c'mon, it's an animal, right?!?! And honestly, how am I the jerk? You're the ones picking and choosing which ones you eat, and which ones you buy matching family sweaters for the holiday greeting card picture. At least I'm across the board....not that I would eat my dog...I'm not saying that...calm down Bob Barker....ah, I digress.

So, here's the point: I like Nico. He's a friend, perhaps not my best. But then again, I'm not a man, so it really doesn't apply now does it? All that aside, today we had Nico neutered. So now neither of us our "men" and he certainly is no friend of mine. It was sad, on the way home I tried to pet his little head in the car and he quickly jerked it away. 'Dad' was the one who drove him to the vet but for some reason I'm the one being given the cold...nose.

And what's crazy is all day long I was thinking about him. Worried. I felt as though someone I actually cared about was in the hospital undergoing surgery. (Let me pause here to say for all of you "dog people" I realize I sound a bit cavalier in my emotional description, but this is new for me...I'm usually seen as a "people person") So, oddly enough I think, perhaps, my grench sized heart took it's first ever canine loving beat today. I finally feel human(e).