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{Thanks to the good folks at The Daily Puppy}
Here's the next edition of "some cute puppies for you"! :)
These pics reminded me of the first few lines of Shakespeare's Sonnet 141... The canine countenance just seem to have that weird effect on me - It's this totally innocent, trusting gaze... It seems to pierce right through the outer facade, and peek into the deepest recesses of my heart. Frankly, it confounds me a little - I can't help but wonder how, despite all the crap these creatures see us do, they still manage to find something in us that they can love and be faithful to. Herein might lie one explanation:
In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes,
For they in thee a thousand errors note;
But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise,
Who in despite of view is pleased to dote.
--
{Thanks to the good folks at The Daily Puppy}
My pick for today's edition of "here's a cute-as-hell-puppy" is Butchy, the Labrador Mix. And it was heartening to hear that she was rescued from a shelter. Having volunteered at a dog shelter not too long ago, I know firsthand how much the dogs there could use a good friend. While the conditions are certainly a lot better in than out on the streets, a dog shelter is still a high-stress environment for the dogs.
Most of the shelter dogs have had a traumatic life - the unlucky ones have been abused, beaten, starved; the lucky ones were merely left to die on the streets when their 'family' had to move somewhere and decided that the dog was too much of a burden to take along; the truly lucky ones get picked up by rescue workers who bring them into the shelter. The volunteer-run shelters (the less said about the state-run shelters the better...hehe) survive on community support and charitable donations and typically struggle to make ends meet. And pecuniary strangulation isn't the only thing I'm talking about - what they suffer from is an acute shortage of volunteers!
Like I was saying, a shelter is a high-stress environment for dogs. They are confined in small cages in very close proximity to a ton of other barking, howling, traumatized dogs. Compounded with their painful past, it doesn't really give them a fair shot at a proper rehabilitation. That's where the volunteers come in - at a typical shelter, the volunteers help feed the dogs, take them out for walks, play with them... and just generally give the dogs something to wag those tails at! :) However, such volunteers are usually a high-turnover corps, leading to times when the shelters are left with no one to give the pooches the much-needed R&R!! I'm not one to preach, but I do urge you - if you are in the U.S. and have never checked out an animal shelter, please find one near you using this ASPCA link. On a lazy Saturday afternoon, walk/drive to that shelter, and spend some time getting to know the dogs and feeding them some treats - it will make a huge difference in their day, and you will leave feeling a little more at peace with yourself - I guarantee it!
Yes, I am a dog-lover (in case my profile picture didn't give that away already...hehe)! Nowhere is it more apparent than in my reaction to all things canine; I am just a sucker for the dogs... small ones, big ones, pure-breeds and mongrels... doesn't matter... If it walks on four paws and barks while cocking its head to one side and wagging its tail furiously, I love it! :)
Infact, my life's only real regret has been my complete inability to have a dog of my own in all these many years! And my mom's to blame for that! Actually, it's not 'coz she doesn't like dogs. Au contraire, she a dog-person too. She had one growing up, and was quite traumatized by his eventual demise. Not wanting to put herself through the pain of such bereavement again, her P.O.V. has been 'get a dog when YOU can take care of him'! Now that's been quite hard to do all these years what with staying in Mumbai with both parents working and me spending a good part of my day out of the house getting educated and all that good stuff...hehe. Then I came to the U.S. - but the education process continued to be my own personal albatross! Grad school is now finally over, and I am gainfully employed! After nearly a year on the icky frigid east coast (I refuse to subject a dog to such inhumane living conditions!), I am headed back to my beloved, dog-friendly west coast in a couple of months! And at last, I have my first real shot at owning a dog... provided ofcourse that I can convince my bosses to let me bring him to work! Let's see how that one goes... fingers crossed!
Meanwhile, I satiate my dog love, by playing with other junta's dogs on the streets, volunteering at the local dog shelter, and occasionally going "Awwwwwwwwww..." over a cute pic I find on the net! If it wasn't obvious already (hehe), this post is all about such an online cornucopia! :)
I discovered The Daily Puppy quite by accident on someone's Orkut page! And it's been such a pleasure! Every day the kind, good-hearted souls behind that website profile a new puppy... with a back story and tons of adorable pictures! In a span of a few days, the website has become in regular in my list of 'websites I must visit daily' (along with CNN, TOI and Bored...hehe). But you know how it is with these websites - here today, gone tomorrow... And losing out on this veritable treasure chest would be a disaster, wouldn't it?! ;) So I am going to make an attempt to post atleast one puppy-pic from that website to my blog every day... starting with these few ones of two Labrador sisters - Belle and Layla!
