Who Loves Ya, Baby

It's an odd thing about keeping animals around the place. Most of my life there have been animals around me. The exceptions were a few years after Daddy had died and we were moving from apartment (flat) to apartment. But they're living creatures and it doesn't take long for normal people to become attached to them. (If you do live in a place with animals - particularly dogs and/or cats - and you don't become attached to them, then I think you need counseling.)

For the most part, the animals we have kept have been dogs and cats. Any other animals we had were kept for food. There were exceptions. One year Helvie and I were given rabbits at Easter. We had had rabbits before, but those had been for food. Our two bunnies were meant to be pets.

It had been a long, cold winter that year, and I suppose Easter was early, too. In any case, we kept the rabbits in the house at first, in the big room, which had been curtained off. We spread sheets over the entire floor and let the bunnies run free. When the weather warmed enough, we set up a nice place for the bunnies in a out building. That lasted exactly one night. The dogs broke in after we went to bed and put an end to the bunnies.

There was another time Gayanne was given three baby chicks at Easter. Gayanne had never had any kind of personal pet before and so she took to the chicks more than anyone realized. And the chicks liked her, too. They would follow her around the yard as she walked, making sure they got exercise. But they didn't last either. It wasn't the dogs, though, which put an end to them. It was Mother. Sundays were baked chicken or roast days, and the day came when Mother decided Gayanne's chickens would be the daily meal. If that wasn't bad enough, guess who got to cook them? Right. Gayanne. Mother never did figure out why Gayanne was so upset, or why she refused to eat, or why it had been cruel to do what she had done. Mother had grown up on a farm. In her mind there were only two reasons to have chickens: they laid eggs; they were good to eat. What a pity that had not been conveyed to Gayanne when she had been given the chicks to take care of.

I suppose it's more parents who make taking care of pets odd. Spouse's family used to have a nice, fluffy cat. It was a fearful thing which hid from strangers. The first time I was brought home to meet Spouse's family I chanced a glimpse of it as it ran down the stairs into the basement. It took me nearly the entire weekend (it was Thanksgiving Weekend) to win the cat's confidence so that it actually came to me and allowed me to stroke its back. After I left the cat offended either Spouse's mother or brother (it's still not clear) and her brother killed it. Spouse was told the cat had run away, but she investigated further and learned the truth. You see, this wasn't the first time a pet had "run away".

There had been a dog. It, too, had mysteriously run away. Twenty years later Spouse's mother fessed up. She had brought it to the pound to be put down. She had grown tired of taking care of it after the children had grown and left home.

I suppose that's partially why I resent it when people put such a strong emphasis on money. To me, it seems that the more we do that the more likely we will make our pets "run away". Then we tell lies to cover our actions, as though we instictively know we've done something wrong.

Part of my not wanting to have our cat in the first place was knowing this day (having to move) was a very real possibility, and finding a place to rent which allows cats is not always easy. As it turned out, we did. But there's a responsibility in keeping a pet. No, they are not humans, and no I do not believe they should have all the rights of humans. But they do have the right to be taken care of. After all, we chose them.

It isn't always easy and it isn't always fun. But what is? Tell me. I'd like to know. Nothing that I have or do makes me happy all the time. But when a cat - or dog, or bird, or whatever - comes and wants to sit beside you because it likes you, that has to mean something to you. If it doesn't then I truly feel sorry for you, for you are missing out on life's greatest treasure: love.