A Better Answer
If you're a Canadian, you don't have any tropical vacation spots in your own country--you have to plan international travel to sit on a beach under a palm tree and enjoy the sound of the waves and the feel of the breeze. So you get on a plane, and if you don't want to go further than necessary, you land in Cuba, The Pearl of the Antilles, and the former crown jewel in the Spanish Empire. And the beaches are spectacular, the weather perfect, and the people are friendly. No wonder so many Canadians make the trip. There are no travel restrictions to fight as we have to do here in the US.
Most Canadians love their vacations in Cuba, and few have anything negative to say about their holidays there. One exception we hear is that many deplore the large number of street dogs and strays they see in Cuba. Like other third world places, animals don't get much humane treatment there. But a number of Canadians with kind hearts want to do something about the strays. Often they take pity on the stray and try to arrange its adoption and move back to Canada when they get back home.
Too often we get calls about a dog or a puppy near a resort that is accepting handout food from the tourists and seems to beg to be adopted and taken far away to a new home.
It's hard to counsel people who've allowed some hungry little dog to steal their heart, and who've searched the Internet for someone to help save the unfortunate little animal. But we feel obligated to educate these good-hearted people in the realities of saving the street dogs of Cuba. To arrange a successful adoption and transport takes much more time and money than you might think.
First there's the problem of finding the animal, and then you have to verify that it doesn't have an owner. If this takes place in many parts of Cuba, that might mean a long round trip from Havana for a vet or a volunteer. It could take two trips to find the right dog and bring it to Havana.
Then there's arranging a foster home for at least two weeks, vet exams, deparisitazions, more vet tests, waiting for test results, and arranging air transportation back to Canada. Most of these projects cost more than $500 in expenses before the dog is put on a plane (and this number does not include air transportation charges).
Yes, it might be nice to bring that little lovable animal into your home and to be able to tell your friends of the sad plight he or she faced when found. But for all that time and expense, how much more have you done to reduce animal suffering than if you had visited your local animal shelter and picked out a healthy, life-long friend from a huge range of breeds, sizes, shapes and colors?
No, as much as we all want to help save a hungry street dog from his stark, unhappy street life, we have to realize that isn't always the best answer. We need to stay focused on our main activity, conducting massive spay-neuter campaigns. That, at least, helps street animals by drastically reducing their numbers.
When we discourage these kind souls who want to help, it isn't for lack of compassion--we've got it in spades--it's because we have a better answer. We don't want to seem callous, but we have to focus our energies where we can do the most good for Cuba's animals.
Les Inglis
Friday, May 27, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Our Cost Rican Connection
Our Costa Rican Connection
You've heard lots in these blogs about Nora Garcia, Aniplant's President. Nora is the central nervous system of animal protection in Cuba. But this time I want to write about another woman who has played an indispensable role in our work in Cuba.
Lilian Schnog is a Dutch woman who comes from Aruba. Years ago she and her husband, Ben, made the move from Aruba to Costa Rica, settling into a beautiful home halfway up a mountain, near the capital, San Jose. Many years ago, I was a Director of HSUS at the time I first heard of Lilian. John Hoyt, HSUS's President and I were talking about the formation of HSI, Humane Society International, when he told me he was making a quick trip to Florida. Lilian had called him and wanted to meet and talk with him about some problems at the WSPA (World Society for Protection of Animals) shelter near her home where she volunteered her time to help the animals.
John met with Lilian and agreed there should be changes at the shelter. Lilian was willing to make a major contribution to acquire the WSPA shelter and animal hospital if she had the support of HSUS, which Hoyt was willing to promise. Her plan was put into effect, and Lilian replaced WSPA's shelter manager and began to run the enterprise, certainly in a more humane fashion.
About that time I made two trips to Costa Rica and was able to see the changes for myself. Lilian was in charge, doing really important work, and HSI had people visiting to advise on improving the animal hospital function. Over the years, HSI and AHPPA, (Asociación Humana Para la Protección de Animales), Lilian's shelter, have maintained their association and in a recent year, Lilian was awarded HSI's highest honor for animal protectors.
When we wanted to supply anesthesia medicines, to Aniplant's spay-neuter campaigns, we needed a source of the meds and a way to get them into Cuba reliably. Lilian did some checking and found out there are no restrictions on trade between Cuba and Costa Rica. She works regularly with a distributor of medicines who exports to Cuba. So our problems were solved. If we could pay for the needed meds, Lilian could buy them and have them shipped to Nora in Cuba. We've done this several times now, and we have a reliable, legal way to ship drugs that Nora cannot otherwise acquire. Also, both Lilian and Nora are certified as persons who can buy, store, and handle controlled substances, which many of the drugs we buy are.
There are many wonderful people who work to help animals. Some are right in our home towns and some are spread out across the globe. We, and the dogs and cats of Cuba, are fortunate to have Lilian Schnog as a friend and a participant in what we are doing in Cuba.
Les Inglis
You've heard lots in these blogs about Nora Garcia, Aniplant's President. Nora is the central nervous system of animal protection in Cuba. But this time I want to write about another woman who has played an indispensable role in our work in Cuba.
Lilian Schnog is a Dutch woman who comes from Aruba. Years ago she and her husband, Ben, made the move from Aruba to Costa Rica, settling into a beautiful home halfway up a mountain, near the capital, San Jose. Many years ago, I was a Director of HSUS at the time I first heard of Lilian. John Hoyt, HSUS's President and I were talking about the formation of HSI, Humane Society International, when he told me he was making a quick trip to Florida. Lilian had called him and wanted to meet and talk with him about some problems at the WSPA (World Society for Protection of Animals) shelter near her home where she volunteered her time to help the animals.
John met with Lilian and agreed there should be changes at the shelter. Lilian was willing to make a major contribution to acquire the WSPA shelter and animal hospital if she had the support of HSUS, which Hoyt was willing to promise. Her plan was put into effect, and Lilian replaced WSPA's shelter manager and began to run the enterprise, certainly in a more humane fashion.
About that time I made two trips to Costa Rica and was able to see the changes for myself. Lilian was in charge, doing really important work, and HSI had people visiting to advise on improving the animal hospital function. Over the years, HSI and AHPPA, (Asociación Humana Para la Protección de Animales), Lilian's shelter, have maintained their association and in a recent year, Lilian was awarded HSI's highest honor for animal protectors.
When we wanted to supply anesthesia medicines, to Aniplant's spay-neuter campaigns, we needed a source of the meds and a way to get them into Cuba reliably. Lilian did some checking and found out there are no restrictions on trade between Cuba and Costa Rica. She works regularly with a distributor of medicines who exports to Cuba. So our problems were solved. If we could pay for the needed meds, Lilian could buy them and have them shipped to Nora in Cuba. We've done this several times now, and we have a reliable, legal way to ship drugs that Nora cannot otherwise acquire. Also, both Lilian and Nora are certified as persons who can buy, store, and handle controlled substances, which many of the drugs we buy are.
There are many wonderful people who work to help animals. Some are right in our home towns and some are spread out across the globe. We, and the dogs and cats of Cuba, are fortunate to have Lilian Schnog as a friend and a participant in what we are doing in Cuba.
Les Inglis
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Doggie Bags
Doggie Bags
Walk around the older parts of Havana and you'll conclude that Cubans spend lots of time sitting on their front stoops. It doesn't matter that the front door is open, as most of these houses don't have air-conditioning. So the door and most of the windows are open, and the owner sits on the step up to the front door with his feet out on the sidewalk.
And the family dog? He's inside unless it's time for him to go out. Then he just lets himself out. The owner doesn't worry about the dog getting lost because he knows the dog will show up at dinner time when his food is set out or even sooner when it's time to get in the shade to avoid the hot sun. So the whole thing about keeping a dog is a pretty casual affair, both on the owner's aprt and on the part of the dog.
Dogs in Cuba almost always get the table scraps from the family's dinner table. You can't buy commercial dog food there unless you're very rich or have CUC's (tourist money) to spend. Neither CUC's nor riches are common in the hands of Cuban people, so table scraps it is for the dog. A few lucky dogs are fed a cooked down mixture of rough rice and slaughterhouse waste (fat, scraps, brains, eyeballs, etc, etc.) That's what the eight dogs who live at Aniplant's headquarters get.
You may already have asked yourself how you can tell if a dog on the street is a family pet or a stray. I'm sorry to say there is no certain test, as Cuban dogs seldom sport collars or ID tags. One not very accurate test is to look at his body. If the ribs are not easy to see, it might be someone's pet, just out for a little pit stop.
No Cuban leaves food on plates in a restaurant, and when I'm there I don't either. You ask for a foam plastic box or perhaps carry a supply of plastic shopping bags like Nora does. Cubans define "doggie bags" better than anywhere else. Here is a country full of animal lovers who share their scant provisions with their animal companions.
When I walk away from a restaurant with a plastic box full of leftovers, I immediately look for a hungry animal, but then I'm faced with the question, which dogs are pets being fed, and which are truly needy street dogs. And one should not make quick decisions in that situation. If I see a dog near a stoop sitter, I ask if that's his dog. I wouldn't want anyone feeding my dogs something, and he probably wouldn't either. I'll offer the owner some of my leftovers if he wants, but I'm really looking for an animal whose ribs are showing. When I find one and no apparent owner is near, there's little difficulty in getting him to eat.
I'm thinking , "Good, now I don't have to carry this box of leftovers around," and the dog is thinking, "Good, now I don't have to be hungry all day."
Les Inglis
Walk around the older parts of Havana and you'll conclude that Cubans spend lots of time sitting on their front stoops. It doesn't matter that the front door is open, as most of these houses don't have air-conditioning. So the door and most of the windows are open, and the owner sits on the step up to the front door with his feet out on the sidewalk.
And the family dog? He's inside unless it's time for him to go out. Then he just lets himself out. The owner doesn't worry about the dog getting lost because he knows the dog will show up at dinner time when his food is set out or even sooner when it's time to get in the shade to avoid the hot sun. So the whole thing about keeping a dog is a pretty casual affair, both on the owner's aprt and on the part of the dog.
Dogs in Cuba almost always get the table scraps from the family's dinner table. You can't buy commercial dog food there unless you're very rich or have CUC's (tourist money) to spend. Neither CUC's nor riches are common in the hands of Cuban people, so table scraps it is for the dog. A few lucky dogs are fed a cooked down mixture of rough rice and slaughterhouse waste (fat, scraps, brains, eyeballs, etc, etc.) That's what the eight dogs who live at Aniplant's headquarters get.
You may already have asked yourself how you can tell if a dog on the street is a family pet or a stray. I'm sorry to say there is no certain test, as Cuban dogs seldom sport collars or ID tags. One not very accurate test is to look at his body. If the ribs are not easy to see, it might be someone's pet, just out for a little pit stop.
No Cuban leaves food on plates in a restaurant, and when I'm there I don't either. You ask for a foam plastic box or perhaps carry a supply of plastic shopping bags like Nora does. Cubans define "doggie bags" better than anywhere else. Here is a country full of animal lovers who share their scant provisions with their animal companions.
When I walk away from a restaurant with a plastic box full of leftovers, I immediately look for a hungry animal, but then I'm faced with the question, which dogs are pets being fed, and which are truly needy street dogs. And one should not make quick decisions in that situation. If I see a dog near a stoop sitter, I ask if that's his dog. I wouldn't want anyone feeding my dogs something, and he probably wouldn't either. I'll offer the owner some of my leftovers if he wants, but I'm really looking for an animal whose ribs are showing. When I find one and no apparent owner is near, there's little difficulty in getting him to eat.
I'm thinking , "Good, now I don't have to carry this box of leftovers around," and the dog is thinking, "Good, now I don't have to be hungry all day."
Les Inglis
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Our Neighborhood Feud
Our Neighborhood Feud
I gave a little talk at a nearby Rotary Club this week, and I decided to call the talk, "A Cuban Scrapbook." While planning what to say, I felt I couldn't only talk about our work with the animals there. I knew I'd have to give them a little background on Cuban and US history and relations.
This year we mark 50 years since the US and Cuba broke off diplomatic relations. For the first 16 of those years there wasn't even an interests section for the other country in either capital.
With such a long freeze in relations, there's little wonder US citizens know very little about Cuba. And yet, before the current estrangement, the US and Cuba had a huge amount of interaction. At the time of the Castro Revolution (1959), the US owned 71% of all the business in Cuba and 76% of all its arable land. Pre-Castro, there were lots of Americans in Cuba and vice versa. Today it's a fight to travel between the two countries, and most people avoid the fight and don't even go.
So I sketched some of what it was like in the old days when the two countries were on good terms. We moved rapidly from 1492 to 1898, the Spanish Colony years--all except for 1762 when the British occupied a small part of Cuba. Later The Brits traded their Cuban holdings for Spain's part of Florida. (I wonder who got the better of that deal?)
Finally I got around to why I go to Cuba. That is to help Aniplant protect Cuban animals. Our little charity, The Aniplant Project (TAP), raises money to help Aniplant in its projects. TAP really got going in 2007, and the cooperation between TAP and Aniplant has been growing every year since then. Take a look at some then and now comparisons:
Item /Then/ Now
Sterilizations yr /624 / 3077
Headquarters /8th floor, broken elev/ restored 1st fl showplace
Isolation /no visits to US for years /2 visits in 2 years for Nora
Anesthesia meds /hospital cast off- outdated /fresh modern vet drugs
Electrocute strays /frequent /completely ended
We're not bragging, just trying to show how things are changing for Cuba's animals. Also the rapid growth of animal protection work is partly due to pent up demand from earlier years.
And for every dog or cat that is sterilized, the population of street animals is reduced by thousands in a few years.
Les Inglis
I gave a little talk at a nearby Rotary Club this week, and I decided to call the talk, "A Cuban Scrapbook." While planning what to say, I felt I couldn't only talk about our work with the animals there. I knew I'd have to give them a little background on Cuban and US history and relations.
This year we mark 50 years since the US and Cuba broke off diplomatic relations. For the first 16 of those years there wasn't even an interests section for the other country in either capital.
With such a long freeze in relations, there's little wonder US citizens know very little about Cuba. And yet, before the current estrangement, the US and Cuba had a huge amount of interaction. At the time of the Castro Revolution (1959), the US owned 71% of all the business in Cuba and 76% of all its arable land. Pre-Castro, there were lots of Americans in Cuba and vice versa. Today it's a fight to travel between the two countries, and most people avoid the fight and don't even go.
So I sketched some of what it was like in the old days when the two countries were on good terms. We moved rapidly from 1492 to 1898, the Spanish Colony years--all except for 1762 when the British occupied a small part of Cuba. Later The Brits traded their Cuban holdings for Spain's part of Florida. (I wonder who got the better of that deal?)
Finally I got around to why I go to Cuba. That is to help Aniplant protect Cuban animals. Our little charity, The Aniplant Project (TAP), raises money to help Aniplant in its projects. TAP really got going in 2007, and the cooperation between TAP and Aniplant has been growing every year since then. Take a look at some then and now comparisons:
Item /Then/ Now
Sterilizations yr /624 / 3077
Headquarters /8th floor, broken elev/ restored 1st fl showplace
Isolation /no visits to US for years /2 visits in 2 years for Nora
Anesthesia meds /hospital cast off- outdated /fresh modern vet drugs
Electrocute strays /frequent /completely ended
We're not bragging, just trying to show how things are changing for Cuba's animals. Also the rapid growth of animal protection work is partly due to pent up demand from earlier years.
And for every dog or cat that is sterilized, the population of street animals is reduced by thousands in a few years.
Les Inglis
Friday, April 22, 2011
Getting There
Getting There
Getting to Cuba for a US citizen isn't easy, but it can be done. Most people who want to go are shy about running the gauntlet of rules and regulations that form the US embargo of Cuba. But if you dig in and wade through the regulations, it all begins to make a little sense, and there are plenty of people to help you. First, Google the Office of Foreign Assets Control--OFAC will do. After you have passed though the rules covering travel to Cuba, it won't seem so difficult.
You'll need to fall under one of three main areas which allow travelers to go to Cuba--Humanitarian, Religious, and Research. These classes of travelers can affiliate with one of many organizations licensed by the US government to authorize your travel. Many people can find something in their background or education to link them to one of these three exception areas. Also, under recent changes promulgated by the Obama administration, educational trips for small groups are now being offered to promote people to people exchanges.
As a starting point, you'll use a travel agent licensed by the US government to arrange Cuba travel. I can direct you to a good one in Miami if you need it.
But every i must be dotted, and every t must be crossed if you go. In November 2009, two friends and I ran into a real problem as we arrived at Miami's airport for a week in Cuba. The desk man studied our papers for a long while and then told us we had the wrong kind of a Cuban visa, and we could not travel that day. It was unbelievable, having jumped all the hurdles we were told to. It seemed the licensee was a religious organization, and our Cuban visa was for tourists. Well, Cuba requires a special kind of visa for religious organizations, and it levies fines on airlines that don't get the paperwork right. It hadn't been our fault as we never intended to do religious work, but we couldn't go that day.
We were crestfallen after months of planning, preparations and driving 240 miles to Miami's airport. We slowly gathered up our luggage and went out toward the parking lot, hardly knowing what to do next. Before we got to the garage, I heard a man running after us and yelling for us to stop. It was the desk agent, and he told me he had found a loophole that would allow us to go after all. Back inside he adjusted our paperwork and passed us on through. I was so grateful, I offered him a nice tip, but he wouldn't take it--explaining he was just doing his job.
The reason for telling this little story is to illustrate how you have to be ready for adventure if you want to go legally. It's still a little like buying a ticket on a roller coaster.
As for those who would sidestep the formalities and fly to Havana through a third country, my advice is don't do it. Like the old saying, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." Don't mess around with Uncle Sam either.
Sometimes even when you try to do everything right, you can still run into trouble. Thankfully, we were helped by a ticket agent who must have known how important our trip was to us.
Les Inglis
Getting to Cuba for a US citizen isn't easy, but it can be done. Most people who want to go are shy about running the gauntlet of rules and regulations that form the US embargo of Cuba. But if you dig in and wade through the regulations, it all begins to make a little sense, and there are plenty of people to help you. First, Google the Office of Foreign Assets Control--OFAC will do. After you have passed though the rules covering travel to Cuba, it won't seem so difficult.
You'll need to fall under one of three main areas which allow travelers to go to Cuba--Humanitarian, Religious, and Research. These classes of travelers can affiliate with one of many organizations licensed by the US government to authorize your travel. Many people can find something in their background or education to link them to one of these three exception areas. Also, under recent changes promulgated by the Obama administration, educational trips for small groups are now being offered to promote people to people exchanges.
As a starting point, you'll use a travel agent licensed by the US government to arrange Cuba travel. I can direct you to a good one in Miami if you need it.
But every i must be dotted, and every t must be crossed if you go. In November 2009, two friends and I ran into a real problem as we arrived at Miami's airport for a week in Cuba. The desk man studied our papers for a long while and then told us we had the wrong kind of a Cuban visa, and we could not travel that day. It was unbelievable, having jumped all the hurdles we were told to. It seemed the licensee was a religious organization, and our Cuban visa was for tourists. Well, Cuba requires a special kind of visa for religious organizations, and it levies fines on airlines that don't get the paperwork right. It hadn't been our fault as we never intended to do religious work, but we couldn't go that day.
We were crestfallen after months of planning, preparations and driving 240 miles to Miami's airport. We slowly gathered up our luggage and went out toward the parking lot, hardly knowing what to do next. Before we got to the garage, I heard a man running after us and yelling for us to stop. It was the desk agent, and he told me he had found a loophole that would allow us to go after all. Back inside he adjusted our paperwork and passed us on through. I was so grateful, I offered him a nice tip, but he wouldn't take it--explaining he was just doing his job.
The reason for telling this little story is to illustrate how you have to be ready for adventure if you want to go legally. It's still a little like buying a ticket on a roller coaster.
As for those who would sidestep the formalities and fly to Havana through a third country, my advice is don't do it. Like the old saying, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." Don't mess around with Uncle Sam either.
Sometimes even when you try to do everything right, you can still run into trouble. Thankfully, we were helped by a ticket agent who must have known how important our trip was to us.
Les Inglis
Sunday, April 10, 2011
El Acuario
El Acuario
You couldn't pay me to go to Sea World. This attraction that offers performing dolphins and whales is iconic among animal rights folks as a place to hate. And why not? They capture sea mammals and teach them to do tricks for the paying customers. Once made into a Sea World performer, a dolphin or whale will never know free swimming again and will always be constrained to circle endlessly in what amounts to large swimming pools. And, after a few weeks or months of this captivity, these animals lose their ability to hunt for food. That is the final insult. Even if we freed them all, they'd die in the wild.
But we decided to visit El Acuario in Miramar near Havana--more to understand what it is than to patronize exploitation. El Acuario is right next to the sea, and, during recent hurricanes, storm surges had invaded the property, damaged some buildings and caused the escape of some performing dolphins, probably followed by their starving to death. Restorations of the buildings were underway, but moving slowly--it had been years since the hurricanes. We wandered the grounds waiting for show time, and we stared at the non-performing captives--turtles, sea birds, and other small animals.
When it came time to be seated for the show, we had our choice of seats, and we moved to the center of a circular bleacher structure, about half way up to the top. There, before us, was a large, oval shaped pool with gates controlling access to two smaller pools, one on either side of the main pool. Large, flat stage areas were in front of and behind the large pool where the trainers did their work. There were two male and two female trainers and plenty of buckets of fish used by the trainers as rewards for tricks well done.
I commented to Nora that the dolphins seemed happy, and she wisely told me not to confuse the calmness that comes with resignation with contentment. Mulling that over, I thought how sad not to be able to swim in a straight line for more than a few yards. And how sad to be fed from a bucket instead of hunting and chasing your dinner. How defeated a new performer must be when he senses he'll never again explore a new part of the sea.
The show was professional and entertaining, the long days of training to get them to do their tricks was evident if you thought about it. But in El Acuario as well as in Sea World the show is designed to keep you from thinking about the captivity, the resignation, or their loss of freedom.
Thankfully El Acuario has no orcas or killer whales. It's quite enough to think about these exploited dolphins, prisoners of animal exploitation. As the show ended, we were invited to a small group that gathered on one of the stages to pet two dolphins who beached themselves so we could pet them. I wondered what they thought of us as we petted them, and even talked to them.
Les Inglis
You couldn't pay me to go to Sea World. This attraction that offers performing dolphins and whales is iconic among animal rights folks as a place to hate. And why not? They capture sea mammals and teach them to do tricks for the paying customers. Once made into a Sea World performer, a dolphin or whale will never know free swimming again and will always be constrained to circle endlessly in what amounts to large swimming pools. And, after a few weeks or months of this captivity, these animals lose their ability to hunt for food. That is the final insult. Even if we freed them all, they'd die in the wild.
But we decided to visit El Acuario in Miramar near Havana--more to understand what it is than to patronize exploitation. El Acuario is right next to the sea, and, during recent hurricanes, storm surges had invaded the property, damaged some buildings and caused the escape of some performing dolphins, probably followed by their starving to death. Restorations of the buildings were underway, but moving slowly--it had been years since the hurricanes. We wandered the grounds waiting for show time, and we stared at the non-performing captives--turtles, sea birds, and other small animals.
When it came time to be seated for the show, we had our choice of seats, and we moved to the center of a circular bleacher structure, about half way up to the top. There, before us, was a large, oval shaped pool with gates controlling access to two smaller pools, one on either side of the main pool. Large, flat stage areas were in front of and behind the large pool where the trainers did their work. There were two male and two female trainers and plenty of buckets of fish used by the trainers as rewards for tricks well done.
I commented to Nora that the dolphins seemed happy, and she wisely told me not to confuse the calmness that comes with resignation with contentment. Mulling that over, I thought how sad not to be able to swim in a straight line for more than a few yards. And how sad to be fed from a bucket instead of hunting and chasing your dinner. How defeated a new performer must be when he senses he'll never again explore a new part of the sea.
The show was professional and entertaining, the long days of training to get them to do their tricks was evident if you thought about it. But in El Acuario as well as in Sea World the show is designed to keep you from thinking about the captivity, the resignation, or their loss of freedom.
Thankfully El Acuario has no orcas or killer whales. It's quite enough to think about these exploited dolphins, prisoners of animal exploitation. As the show ended, we were invited to a small group that gathered on one of the stages to pet two dolphins who beached themselves so we could pet them. I wondered what they thought of us as we petted them, and even talked to them.
Les Inglis
Saturday, April 2, 2011
It Just Doesn't Get Better Than This
It Just Doesn't Get Better Than This
They say that men and dogs formed their historic symbiotic alliance shortly after men congregated in communities. More adventurous wolves would set aside their fear of men and approach them in their refuse dumps. They had so much to give to each other that a historic cooperation of the two species formed and grew rapidly. Dogs provided men with security, protection, and hunting cooperation and received food from mankind's leftovers. Both species offered the other faithful commitment and received companionship, the most valuable gift of all.
Now, thousands of years later the bonding has continued and permeates most of our lives. Hector, a Cuban boy in the early grades, walks home in his school uniform and comes across a stray puppy, pausing to play with him. When he knows he must get on home, he walks off, but the puppy follows, crossing streets wisely only when Hector does. By the time they get to Hector's house, the dog has a name, Coco, after Hector's best friend who moved away months ago.
"Can I please keep him, Mom? Please?" We all know how those conversations go. This mom loves her son enough to allow Coco into the family in spite of the extra cleaning work he'll cause and the need to share out the family's food a little further. She knows what the dog can add to Hector's life.
She has given him a great gift--something far better than a toy soldier or a bike. That gift will last longer in Hector's life than even Coco will. In no time Hector will learn what a true friend his dog is. He'll learn loyalty, dedication, companionship, and responsibility, and sadly, even separation and loss someday when Coco dies. But Hector will replace Coco with other dogs and enjoy their company his whole life.
This story is repeated millions of time a year. It took place in Cuba, but something like it is happening everywhere, everyday. It has happened to me perhaps 20 times in a long life, and I can still feel the presence of dogs long gone while I love the ones still here. Sometimes when I put my arms around Peachy, our big Golden Doodle as she walks by my chair, I feel Boy, a German Shepherd who used to sit next to me on our back porch stairs. Even though Boy left us twenty years ago, it's all still there, the love, the feelings, the happiness.
I couldn't imagine a life without dogs. I hope I never have to.
Les Inglis
They say that men and dogs formed their historic symbiotic alliance shortly after men congregated in communities. More adventurous wolves would set aside their fear of men and approach them in their refuse dumps. They had so much to give to each other that a historic cooperation of the two species formed and grew rapidly. Dogs provided men with security, protection, and hunting cooperation and received food from mankind's leftovers. Both species offered the other faithful commitment and received companionship, the most valuable gift of all.
Now, thousands of years later the bonding has continued and permeates most of our lives. Hector, a Cuban boy in the early grades, walks home in his school uniform and comes across a stray puppy, pausing to play with him. When he knows he must get on home, he walks off, but the puppy follows, crossing streets wisely only when Hector does. By the time they get to Hector's house, the dog has a name, Coco, after Hector's best friend who moved away months ago.
"Can I please keep him, Mom? Please?" We all know how those conversations go. This mom loves her son enough to allow Coco into the family in spite of the extra cleaning work he'll cause and the need to share out the family's food a little further. She knows what the dog can add to Hector's life.
She has given him a great gift--something far better than a toy soldier or a bike. That gift will last longer in Hector's life than even Coco will. In no time Hector will learn what a true friend his dog is. He'll learn loyalty, dedication, companionship, and responsibility, and sadly, even separation and loss someday when Coco dies. But Hector will replace Coco with other dogs and enjoy their company his whole life.
This story is repeated millions of time a year. It took place in Cuba, but something like it is happening everywhere, everyday. It has happened to me perhaps 20 times in a long life, and I can still feel the presence of dogs long gone while I love the ones still here. Sometimes when I put my arms around Peachy, our big Golden Doodle as she walks by my chair, I feel Boy, a German Shepherd who used to sit next to me on our back porch stairs. Even though Boy left us twenty years ago, it's all still there, the love, the feelings, the happiness.
I couldn't imagine a life without dogs. I hope I never have to.
Les Inglis
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
