Do you see the little guy above? Cute isn't he? Although I don't actually have a dog, I was brought up around animals and am very accustomed to them and probably dogs more than any other because they tend to be more sociable. Cats are lovely, but can be a bit snooty. One of our cats even packed his bags and moved next door when I was a teenager, because he preferred the food the neighbour was offering (to me this is tantamount to stealing, but the cat had made its decision). At one point, our menagerie (ok - not wild and exotic, but allow me some artistic licence here) comprised of a dog, about 20 cats (we had six and two of them - a mother and daughter - had a litter of kittens at the same time), two goldfish, two mice, a budgie and even Jeremy and Jemima, two ducks who lived in a pen in the garden.
The point is I love animals and I always have done.
The main reason I don't have animals now is because of time and location, in other words I don't have the time to give them - I would always favour more social animals and see little point in having a goldfish - and a flat is not exactly the right environment for a dog or cat to have a full life. This of course is an opinion and feel free to agree or disagree, but this is concerning my personal decision concerning pets and so in the end it is my call to make.
We have our hands full with the two children and that is more than enough for us
- and yes I do know the benefits of having animals around children.
The right environment is exactly the point of my post today. Animals deserve to be in the right environment. When I was growing up, I lived in a house with plenty of space and a garden which was inter-connected with a lot of green space predominantly made up of neighbours gardens. You might remember my post on my old house a few weeks ago?
So, last Saturday morning, can you imagine my shock and horror at the stupidity of a feature on a daily magazine TV programme when the hosts and invited guests were discussing "How to prepare your dog for a restaurant".
What the actual..?
I couldn't believe what I was reading on the caption on the screen and I double checked with Mama_Rah that I was understanding it correctly with it not being written in my native language. She confirmed.
Don't get me wrong, I know dogs can and often are well-behaved (that comes down to the owner), but there is a time and a place and a restaurant is not one of them. Diners go to a restaurant to eat and not encounter a dog. Worst case scenario, the dog may be aggressive or bark a lot, and even (at least try to) do its business. On the lighter side they often bring a specific smell with them (we literally say "doggy smell!") and they may set off a diner's allergies. The diner went to eat, not to sneeze on their food.
Of course certain exceptions should be made - I am not unreasonable - but these concern service dogs with guide dogs for the blind being the obvious example, among others.
And on this point, when I was growing up dogs were always tethered outside a shop and nowadays they seem to have the free run of the place. Mama_Rah, and me too, to that point, doesn't want to go to the bakery and have a dog sniffing around either us or the food we are looking to buy. Mama_Rah in particular is afraid of medium to large sized dogs and she finds the experience really intimidating, why should she feel like this when going to buy bread? In some ways it is not too different to the smoking argument. The smoker does have the right to smoke, but not to deny others the freedom of breathing smokeless air.
Better still if you are going to the shop, leave the dog at home and take it for a proper walk where it can run and sniff around and do what dogs do (and please clean up afterwards - thank you very much). This is much healthier for the dog, and probably you too.
This is what used to happen.
What kind of a world are we living in when dogs are elevated to being above human beings and don't get me started on stupid (and yes I will repeat STUPID) owners who have their dogs on long leashes that they just let run across pavements and block others and then take umbrage when their stupidity is pointed out because their precious little dog (well actually the owner - not the dog) is creating a tripping hazard. And to prove the stupidity of leaving such a loose leash the dog often a) gets its legs tangled up and b) pees on the same leash which they then pick up with their hands with it not being the extendable sort.
Stupid is a taboo word nowadays, but sometimes you just have to call it as it is!
As always stay safe and well my friends.
