The General and I have personally owned six dogs and over thirty cats, only two of whom died a ‘natural’ death. Not only that, we had literally thousands of clients at the pet resort whose pets would inevitably age and become terminally ill. From time to time, we’d be part of the discussion about when they should seek a quiet end for their friend.
Harold was a gloriously goofy brown Labrador Retriever, who came to stay with us for six months. His owners were building a new house. While the construction was going on, they were living in rental digs that did not allow dogs.
Harold’s parents came every Saturday to take Harold out to the local burger emporium for a hamburger.
Being Canadian, health insurance policies are a whole unexplored subject for me. I was 16 when Canada got universal health care, just a year before the birth of my first child, Lucky us, to not have to find the money to pay for the obstetrician and maternity ward when we were struggling students.
Eat or be eaten. The law of the jungle. These aphorisms don’t generally have much practical application in the life of the average urban dweller. Well, if you don’t count office warfare.
In the country, it’s a little different, at least in Canada.
Every time a loose dog was found running down our county road, we would be the first place the kind-hearted Good Samaritan would come to make inquiries. We understood.
There are people who will scoff at my use of the word ‘tragedy’ in the context of the story I am about to relate. Certainly these events, involving as they do just a boy and his dog, are dwarfed by the many grand scale tragedies occurring every day, devastating the lives of large numbers of both people and animals. Even in our years caring for dogs and cats in our little kennel, we were peripherally involved in events that would be more deserving of the word ‘tragedy’ as it is more commonly understood.
This was just a small family tragedy. An intimate, human scale ‘series of unfortunate events’ that will never be the stuff of a Shakespearean drama. But somehow it left it deep impression on me.
Calmness, confidence and competence can get you a long way in this world, whether you’re engaged in a stand off with a bear, or trimming your pet’s nails.
Personally, of the two, I think I might prefer dealing with the bear. Unless she’s protecting cubs or food, she’s unlikely to engage with you. The chances of blood being spilled are much higher when you give your dog a manicure.
Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight About Animals (P.S.)
Herzog is an anthrozoologist. That means he studies the interactions between people and animals, including the animal/human bond, how animals fit into human society, and how different cultures treat animals.
Until you’ve suffered a dog bite, you can’t really know how it feels.
Not just the pain, or even, in the case of a bite from a little dog, especially not the pain. It’s the shock. Wounds from a knife in a kitchen accident are bad, but they do not compare to the indescribable outrage and disbelief you feel when your body is gripped by a furious entity who is savagely trying to destroy your flesh.
Who doesn’t love a title?
It’s why celebrities give their unfortunate offspring such soul crushing, toe curlingly faux ‘noble’ names as “Prince” and “Sir Carter”. Some people have even given up their citizenship in a country routinely ranked as the best in the world for the sake of a title. Of course in that case, Baron Black of Crossharbour found that his title was not exactly an advantage among his fellow inmates in prison, so he didn’t seem to have too many qualms about relinquishing it in order to reclaim his Canadian citizenship, post-lockup.
Prince Edward Island, the smallest province of Canada, is famous for Anne of Green Gables. Well, Anne and potatoes, but Anne brings in more tourists.
That beloved children’s book was written in 1908. In it, someone in Avonlea is going into Charlottetown, the provincial capital, to pick out an orphan to bring back with them to help with the work on the farm. Matthew Cuthbert asks that a boy be brought back for his farm as well. They get a girl instead, and the rest is fictional history.