Apparently the bird recently showed up at the auto business establishment, looking beat up, sans feathers, and generally in bad shape. Speculation has run so far as-- maybe he is a retired "rooster pugilist" (or whatever). The sympathetic employees won his trust and friendship by "egging him on" with apples, bananas and (healthful) grains. He now roosts nightly in a nearby pine tree--good plan-- and trusts his new-found friends enough to come down mornings and figuratively shoot the bull with them and have alittle...er..roostership. Ok, fellowship. Then he preens his new weight gain and improved looks a good bit in the glass store-front window.
This warms our hearts in the nicest way. This story and other recent animal events set me to thinking about the importance of these fellow travelers with us on the journey of life.
Looking back on U.S. history and maybe also the world, don't you think we have made strides in the past 50-100 years in our care and consideration of animals?
They play a big part in our lives. How poor we would be and how boring it would be to have no fellow creatures in the world. How about children, with their live pets, stuffed toys, and rabbit house shoes. Then there are the guide dogs. There are guard dogs, sniffers, trackers, mascots; there are tteam names. Biggest of all are the pets for the old and all of us.
Relating to my suggestion that we are making progress in our sympathetic and merciful treatment of these "friends," did you see the story recently of the whale in mid-ocean slowly suffocating due to entanglement in a vast fishing net. These everyday garden-variety fishermen took turns cutting the net, while the whale seemed to sense they were helping. On regaining his freedom and recovering he literally swam near the boat and jumped six or eight times, blowing, as if in gratitude to the men and in joy for life.
These kinds of things are happening all the time these days: (1) stranded whales on beaches being helped; (2) oil spill birds and creatures cleaned, nursed, and released (3) burned and injured forest fire deer and bears treated(4) pest bears anesthetized and transferred (5) injured or abused animals brought in to vet all time (6) Adopt-a-Pet programs (7) advocacy for humane treatment of food animals (8) stricter laws against animal abuse than we have ever had (9) extensive use of veterinarians (10) pet medical insurance
I have known of instances where folks spent a considerable sum in trying to cure and save their pets.
If you don't feel that you are particularly concerned about what happens, for example, to homeless/abandoned dogs, just look into their lonely, hurting, puzzled eyes. Maybe they are wondering "Why am I here?"
There is so much more which could be said, but in closing, let me remind us of something I
figured out many years ago: Anytime we have CONTROL over a family member, loved one,
employee, or an animal---THEY ARE OUR SACRED TRUST.
Sent from my iPad
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