Cruelty to our best friends, under the guise of love, is still cruelty. Let me explain. My husband and I were driving home today after stopping at a nearby Fast Food Chicken place and saw not one but two dogs almost not make it to tomorrow. The first near fatality was in a parking lot. We saw a streak of brownish fur and then heard a loud male voice commanding the dog to “come”. Obviously it wasn’t working. Cars were whipping into and out of the lot. We didn’t hear squealing tires, thank goodness. As we exited the parking lot, we saw a man struggling to hang on to the collar of a brindle mixed breed dog as he dragged it toward a car. I couldn’t help but think, all right, say, “If his dog had been on a leash, that wouldn’t have happened.” Granted, I don’t know how the dog got loose in the first place but, had it been leashed, crisis averted.
The second near fatality happened in our own neighborhood. As we pulled around a semi-blind corner, slowly because my husband drives the speed limit-25 mph, we had our second close encounter. First we saw two guys (father/son?) running across the street. As I said, luckily we were driving as slowly as we were because a medium to little-size wiry, spotted dog ran out from between two parked cars and dashed right toward our car. My husband stopped immediately but as the man ran out into the street after the dog he had a look of pure horror on his face. The son just stood frozen on the sidewalk. Thankfully the dog kept going and the man and boy continued their chase. Again, had the dog been on leash, a catastrophe would have been avoided.
I’ve witnessed two dogs get hit by cars. Both times the dogs were off leash. The first incident was when I was pretty little, maybe eight or nine? I will never get the image out of my mind. It was a little white dog and after the car hit it, the driver just took off. Not to be graphic or gory but the dog was pretty smushed in the middle. I was so upset. But, in the 1950s, dogs weren’t treated like they are now-cats either for that matter. People let their dogs out to just wandered around the neighborhood. The dogs often made mutt puppies and this was long before people purposely mixed breeds to make doodles and puggles and pomskies. The second incident I saw happened while taking my own dog for a walk on leash. A doberman pincher (off leash) ran into the street, was hit by a station wagon and wound up under the car. Fortunately he wasn’t killed but did have several broken bones and a lot of trauma. It was horrible!
There weren’t leash laws, not enforced ones anyway, but there are now. They’re for everyone’s protection; you, other people and, most importantly, your dog. My husband and I would never dream of having our puppy off-leash. Before you ask what we do at dog parks, we don’t go to dog parks. It’s my fault, I worry about other dogs not being vaccinated or dogs that are unfriendly because honestly, I couldn’t bear anything bad happening to our puppy.
I got my first dog late in my life, in my late thirties. She was amazing. She had an amazing story. She taught me a lot about unconditional love and living. She helped me find my way to my husband and my wonderful life. She was with us for several more years and when her time came, we held her and sent her on. Our next dog was special because she needed extra care. As a puppy she tore her ACL and had to undergo a couple of painful surgeries. She taught us both about being stoic and showing grace when life hands you truly sour lemons. She’s gone now too, but she was a great friend. They both were.
Our new little friend is keeping us on our toes. She’s energetic, funny and super smart. She’s healthy and happy and we mean to keep her that way. We have a harness-style leash and she has it on whenever she is out of the house, even in the car. In the car, she is hooked to the seatbelt so if we have to stop suddenly, she doesn’t become a projectile. Vets treat many, many dogs each year who are allowed to roam freely in the backseat of the car or, worse yet, the bed of a pickup truck. At least we know our puppy is safe and protected.
I’m sure she might like to be off leash; she loved the off leash part of puppy kindergarten. I was so proud when she ran with the other (often bigger) dogs in the class. She held her own and wasn’t intimidated by her classmates. She gets to run and sniff as much as she likes in the backyard and often gets “the rips” where she runs around like her tail is on fire. All around the yard, up on the deck, off the deck and back around the yard. But sometimes you have to put your best friend on leash to keep them from harm. You have to be “cruel” so they get to run and jump and play for many, many carefree days to come. So Leash Up!
Soosey’s Ruminations 