"Wherever I am there's always Pooh. There's always Pooh and Me ..." A.A.Milne

 Focus on the dog, people.

The dog on the sofa. Not the weirdo kid.*

That is Pooh.  (oh DO try not to snigger) You know, Pooh? As in Winnie The ....?

Well, that dog, (name inspired by the books about a toy bear, written in the late 1920's, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh ) was a very special dog.

He was there, from Day 1 of Me.  Yep, from Day 1 of Me he never left my side (& vice versa ).

He, along with ALLLLLLLL the other dogs that entered my life as a child, (at one point we lived with, I think it was, 13 dogs - all rescues from HongKong SPCA, incidentally) started & then, signed, sealed & delivered the Love of The Dog (especially the Rescue Dog) into the very soul of Me.

I truly believe Childhood pets can be really pivotal.

He was mine.  It all started with him.



“So wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
"What would I do?" I said to Pooh,
"If it wasn't for you," and Pooh said to me: "True,
It isn't much fun for One, but Two
Can stick together," says Pooh, says he.
"That's how it is," says Pooh.”

― A.A. Milne, Now We Are Six

 

* Think that I should count myself lucky, having escaped any kind of lasting mental scarring from that outfit. It MAY have been the 70s but, come on!?

 

 

Write about your passion, they say.

(Well, in that case, this should be an easy post to write.)

OUR STARTING POSITION

It is possible that We are not entirely unbiased on this subject but, Rescue dogs (but, y'know, the species is really irrelevant) have been in my life since, well, Day 1.

Literally, since Day 1 of Me.

The Trousers has dedicated his life to animals too.  Fixing them.  Learning about them & helping them.  Whatever animal, seriously, WHATEVER animal he will want to try to help.  If it needs fixing, he will try to fix it.

Well, that's what vets do, right? So, no surprise there.

Together, we use our respective skills to try to help.

We have done our respective 'things' in a variety of countries, HongKong, UK & now, Dubai.

Even The Kid 'gets' it already, I'm proud to say.
When one of our (rescue, obviously) dogs passed away recently, He said,
"We need to find another dog that doesn't have a home & he can come be in our family"
*SNIFF* (that's ma boy.  He was 5.)

Animal Cruelty is everywhere

Let me be clear, cruelty to animals happens EVERYWHERE.  It is important we remember this.

HOWEVER, it is undeniable that there is still a disparity in legislation or priority given to repercussions when cases are brought to the attention of the relevant authorities, depending on the country.

This could be due to:
EITHER
a) the value or considered role of animals in a given society or culture
OR
b) the country's national economic situation & the strain its people are under.  Feeding One's children  or saving Oneself from the risk of rabies, for example, are not unreasonable priorities.

*enters, stage left, with Soapbox*

That said, on a level playing field, I'm going to go out of a limb (a fairly wide limb, that I can fit my soapbox on to) here and say:

1) It is NOT ok to hurt things for amusement
2) We (as a species) need to TEACH OUR CHILDREN that hurting things for amusement is NOT friggin' OK
3) Other sentient beings (doesn't matter how many legs, doesn't matter if furred, feathered, scaled, whatever) deserve RESPECT. You don't have to love them.  Just respect them.
4) Pets will teach your children valuable LESSONS in responsibility, compassion, care, &, when the time comes, death.  But if you are irresponsible about it, you will teach your kids some fairly worrying things too

'If you See Something, DO Something'

Recently, there have been a number of very upsetting reports of animal cruelty here in Dubai. 
There IS a Law.
It is a really good, comprehensive, thorough law but, the seeming lack of interest in enforcing the Law frustrates many.

Things will  improve & many here will, hopefully, see the campaign "If you See Something, DO Something' over the next few weeks.

By the way, this seems a fairly reasonable mantra to have, wherever you are.  Whatever the species.

No?