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April 29, 2010
A dog's life
[Tribune photo]
This dog became a bit of a celebrity, his every move followed by traffic helicopters. (Which, I would note, don't usually actually monitor traffic.) Yesterday he disappeared into a forest preserve, only to reappear this morning for another jaunt along the expressway. He was corned but managed to escape, until some police officers finally captured the wayward beast. On the plus side, the dog will either be returned to its owner, or if no owner can be found, it will be put up for adoption. So he won't have to worry about being euthanized.
As an unabashed dog lover, I love to read stories like this, especially when it has a happy ending. Sorry to say, though, many people have rotten souls. I mean, check out the comment section in that Tribune article I linked above.
The commenters there seem to be of four ilk: 1, "Aww, what a cute story! I want to adopt him!" 2, "Why is this on Chicagobreakingnews.com, this isn't news!" 3, "I hate dogs, he should have gotten run over." 4, "That dog's owner should be shot, how dare he be so irresponsible!"
Commenter-types 2 through 4 can get bent. I think I chafe most at the people who think this dog's owner, if indeed he has an owner, is irresponsible. I hate to be the party pooper, but not all dogs are angels, and not all dogs stay where you tell them to stay. True, some dogs can benefit from training, but it is also true that not all dogs fully grasp concepts like staying where humans tell them to stay.
For example, my dearly departed dog, Indiana, was a sweet, gentle dog. He was also, sorry to say, not very bright. I don't mean that to demean him, because he was one of my favorite pets. But he just did not understand things like sitting on command or giving paw. He also enjoyed running away when the opportunity presented itself.
Our dog before Indiana was a giant mutt named Stanley. He was the king of running away - sort of like those rascals in The Great Escape. It seemed like he was running away on a monthly basis, and it turns out this was because he learned how to climb the fence. My dad had a ritual of getting ice cream for him whenever he finally got caught, to the point we think he would run away whenever he wanted ice cream.
So, a wayward dog doesn't automatically make a person an irresponsible dog owner. Dogs like to get loose, it's in their nature. A dog who doesn't want to get away every now and then, quite frankly, is a lame dog. Unless he's lame in the sense that he has a bum leg, which is okay.
To all those commentators who poo-poo this story as frivolous, or dumb, or indicative of rotten humanity, I say this.
entry no. 1442
Posted at April 29, 2010 04:18 PM