Black Heart Down

I was driving to work today listening to the radio, as usual, when I was suddenly taken aback by one of the news stories: two 10 year olds were...what, arrested sounds almost too absurd a word to be referring to children, but captured makes it sound like they were thrown into potato sacks...let's just say apprehended, for killing a PUPPY! Apparently these two heathens found nothing better to do than throw rocks and sticks at a puppy that was chained at a country club or golf course, some random place that seemed out of place like a MadLibs noun.

I was so appalled, I felt like gagging. I mean really, how much of a charred briquette is your heart that you would do that to any animal, let alone a little puppy! It angered me terribly, especially since I've been obsessing these past months over the precise details on how to just keep a dog happy, let alone safe. It really disheartened me, but sadly, this kind of thing is not new for this area.

Just a few months ago a dog was set on fire by some other maniac-kids. The dog survived only long enough to lick it's rescuers before finally being put down. Another dog was chained and accosted by bricks by another gang of hell-bound idiots. This dog, I believe, was also rescued but thankfully survived and was adopted to a nice family.

I'm not sure exactly what disturbed me more, the fact that these incidents occurred at all or the fact that they were perpetrated by misguided assholes who were CHILDREN. I'm sure that I'm the only one who feels this way, but I hope these kids get the EXACT punishment that fit the crime. And I don't real care if that makes me sound like a bleeding heart. Dogs learn negative behavior from their owners, plain and simple. Sure, they all have their own personalities, but of all the highly educational dog-training reality shows I have clocked, no expert has ever claimed a dog to be a bad dog; scared, certainly. Aggressive towards food, maybe. But these things always seemed to be linked to their early puppy-hood and how they were handled.

I kept driving thinking about a section from one of David Sedaris' books about his visit with one of his sisters. Sedaris mentioned how his sister had a dog that was like her child, saying, "My little collie gets a flea and I get hysterical." He also described how his sister could pass by a horrible car accident and rather than show concern for the human victims, she would simply reply, "I hope there wasn't a dog in that car."

I think I'm probably the same way. I can't take seeing dogs getting hurt, even if its just in the movies. I cried practically every time that damn Sarah McLaughlin commercial for the ASPCA came on. I guess because I see dogs, and all animals really, as kind of voiceless (duh, right?). But really, we take these animals in to be our comfort, our companions. And when I hear about horrible abuse to an innocent victim it just breaks my heart and makes me want to get a crowbar and kick some ass. Yeah I do feel that same sense of anger at the thought of child abuse too, but let's face it, there's ALOT of people out there trying to prevent that, and they are all definitely heroes. Dogs and other pets should be protected as well. Right? Ok, I'll get off my soap box now.

Sorry this is kinda short one, but I need to kinda skee-daddle. I've got India Palace waiting for me for lunch AND tomorrow I will be at the long anticipated M3 Rock Festival. Oh yes, my hair is standing up already.

See you readers on Monday!