“Until one has loved an animal
a part of one’s soul remains unawakened”
- Anatole France
In my world, pets are angels in disguise. Dogs, especially. Their dopey unconditional love, their soft eyes, the look of joy when you come home from a long day at the office, every single day. There’s a beauty to that brand of simplicity that we just cannot reproduce in our uppity peopleness.
Last week, one of our angels in disguise decided to walk out the gate and disappeared for four days. It turned out that he had decided to cross two major roads towards tennis court to play ball. Another angel - this one, human - waited with him at the courts for his humans to come claim him. When we didn’t show up, he took him home and gave him a warm bed. Four days later, he saw the newspaper ad we put up and returned him to us. He didn’t want the reward we put up.
In all that time, the distress on an entire extended family, caused by one missing pooch, was IMMENSE.
Which made me think about the true value of pets. Dogs, especially. They’re not just pets. They’re not just furry cute things on the side. They’re family. And if they’re not, then they should be.
