Gone To The Dogs
By TOM TAKASH
During my childhood, we had several dogs, but I clearly remember only two. How we acquired our canines, I don’t have a clue. All l know is that with a smile on his face, our Dad brought them home. Did he buy them? Did someone give them to him? I don’t know. Money was always very tight, so I’m sure that if he bought them, he didn’t pay much.
Were they pure bred? I had never heard of such things. All I remember is that one had fur that was a mixture of brown and black and that it was a male pup. We named him Blackie. We had him for a short time until one day he suddenly went wild in our backyard, would not allow anyone near him, growled at us, and began foaming at the mouth. My Dad called someone. Two police officers showed up in a small truck and tried to snare him with some contraption. When that failed, one officer became frustrated and drew his revolver and dispatched Blackie then and there. I cried, but I got over it.
The other dog that I remember came after Blackie and was also a male. Dad said he was an Irish setter. His fur was reddish and, not surprisingly, Dad named him Rusty. We had Rusty, a very gentle dog, for about three years. Then one day he wandered off, never to be seen again. I was very sad for about a month or so. I kept hoping that he would return. Rusty was a pet, not a person, so I survived again.
Many years later, married and with four young children of our own, we acquired two dogs for them. One of them a friend gave us as a pup. A year or so later when leaving a drug store, I came upon a boy and his mother just outside the store with a cardboard box open at the top.
Five or six black puppies were inside it. A sign on the box offered them at five dollars each. I picked one cowering in the corner and bought it.
So, cost averaging, our dogs cost $2.50 each. Aside from that initial expenditure, we probably spent twenty or thirty dollars on shots for them. The dogs lived for several years, and by the time our first son left for college, they had died. Our children got over those animals, just as I had many years before. They understood that, while we cared for our dogs, they were not members of our family. They were our pets. A funeral service or burial in a “pet cemetery” just wasn’t in the cards.
Why do I mention this memory of dogs in my life? It’s because I believe it’s necessary to recall the very different attitude toward God’s lesser creatures that existed back then, compared to today’s sacred and elevated view of animals. Until about 50 years ago, there was a consensus that animals were just that; they were not our “companions.” They were just our pets. We did not place animals on an equal footing with humans.
Unfortunately, when suddenly human life was dramatically devalued by the Supreme Court in 1973, the country seemed to get caught up in an illusion; one with a twisted view of pets and people. We now live in a world of “Planned Parenthood,” fractured families, pampered pets, and an almost pagan adoration of “Mother
Earth.”
Our world has changed, but not for the better. Today, we must not consider ourselves superior to animals! Perish the thought. A dog, cat, or any other pet cannot be viewed as a possession. We are not owners with certain rights over and above animals. We do not buy or acquire them. We “adopt” them. They are to be viewed as members of our family, often with the same rights as we have. Shame on us, if we think we own it.
We have become consumed with this over-the-top passion for animals and their welfare. At the same time, thousands of innocent unborn and newborn babies are being slaughtered every day, and their body parts are being sold for experimentation. Anyone daring to condemn these murders is shunned by our powerful media as a liar, or at the very least, as a naive, sentimental, and — probably — uneducated religious fanatic.
Conversely, those who crusade for our animals are our new heroes.
Recently, I was driving past a shopping mall. A pet store is located in the mall. In front of the mall, waving signs and marching back and forth, were a man, a woman and three children. The children appeared to be between nine and thirteen years of age. I assume these righteous marchers were all of the same family. They were demanding the closure of that pet store. Why? Their signs indicated that selling animals is evil, a money-grabbing scheme, and that when some pets proved unprofitable or lost their value, the store probably killed them.
As I passed, I thought, “Had this family ever stood outside an abortion mill, demanding the closure of that money-grabbing, killing factory?”
I found other disturbing evidence of our obsession with animal protection. Just the other day I read of a New York state legislator who is introducing a bill to eliminate pet stores in his state, because he said:
“They say the value of a society can be judged by how it treats its animals. It’s a poor statement about us that puppy and kitten mills continue to exist.”
Has it occurred to him that it is an extremely poor statement about us that we allow abortion mills to regularly slaughter countless babies up to and including at the moment of their birth?
Our society has grossly distorted the place of animals in our world. We have dog stores that can rival our supermarkets. I’ve seen people walking with baby strollers with small dogs sitting in them where one would expect to see a child. Often, dogs are dressed up like children.
We have dog parks where people can bring their dogs to meet other dogs. Maybe their “adoptive parents” even arrange “play dates” for them!
Not so many years ago, we bought low-priced canned dog food, or some grain that we mixed with water, for our dogs. Occasionally, we gave them scraps from our dinner table.
Today, we provide specially prepared meals, supposedly rich in vitamins, which studies have shown are best for them. We often order these foods online from companies who advertise on TV and radio, complete with glowing testimonials.
Vets now perform surgeries that were unheard of 50 years ago, at prices that our parents would have thought absurd. Owners have been known to have their dogs flown to another state to ensure that the best possible surgeon is available to operate on them. Trucks will even come to our homes to groom our dogs. Meanwhile thousands of unborn boys and girls are cut up or chemically burned to death every day.
Buying pure bred has become the in thing. Dogs can sell for many thousands of dollars now, and people will travel hundreds of miles to “adopt” the dog of their choice. Buyers want not just papers regarding a dog’s pedigree, but also detailed information on the dog’s “parents,” including photos of them, and their medical records.
Saddened at the thought of leaving their dog behind, some people arrange to have their dog put down and cremated or buried with them when they die. Meanwhile, our unborn murdered children are dumped in trash containers or sold for experimental use to universities and pharmaceutical companies. This obsessive love of animals is not limited to pets that we would normally have in our homes. Not long ago, a friend shared a letter that she received soliciting contributions for a “Potbellied Pig Sanctuary.” It “provides a comfortable home for it’s over 600 sheltered pigs.”
Photos of some of the pigs were enclosed, together with their names and who their closest pig friends were. A donor can “adopt” his or her favorite pig and receive reports on it from time to time.
There are opportunities aplenty to “foster-care” needy pets too, or to nurse them back to health, and let’s not forget the TV ads which show shaking and frightened dogs in cages that can be saved by donating “only
$19 a month.” With “feel good” opportunities like these, we could avoid any guilt that we might experience if we took the time to think of the fact that we could be defending the unborn against the culture of death.
Unhealthy Adoration
Before I am condemned as a cold and uncaring villain, let me point out that I know that having a pet can often fill a need, especially for someone without friends or family close by, and I believe that we have an absolute responsibility to treat animals kindly. I condemn abusing any of God’s creatures.
My concern is elevating animals to the level of us humans, or in some cases above us. Case in point: I heard a talk-show host interviewing a guest on his show, who I believe was a member of PETA, regarding his view on the worth of animals. The host posed a hypothetical question:
“If you were outside a burning house that had a human baby in one room and a puppy in another, and you had only time to rescue one of them, which one would you rescue?” After a brief silence, the guest’s answer was: “I would have to think about it.”
I also heard a university professor not too long ago who said that we humans are ruining the planet and endangering other species. He suggested that humans should stop reproducing and our race should die off, so that other species can thrive again. He wasn’t joking!
While we embrace this unhealthy adoration of animals, our nation has slaughtered over
60,000,000 unborn children since Roe v. Wade. Outside of our country, countless millions more unborn are murdered every year, and we largely finance that international abomination.
Meanwhile, America continues to embrace its unholy love of pets. Our bishops continue their endless debate over Catholic politicians, who promote the murder of God’s holy, unborn babies. The Catholic political hacks grow bolder as they continue to demand the right to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. The faithful continue to hope for effective leadership, praying for an end to this scandal.
Maybe Nero did not really fiddle while Rome burned, but our nation is burning, and we don’t need leaders who continue to fiddle. We need firemen!
Watching all this, and nodding his ugly head, Satan is smiling. May God have mercy on His people!
(Tom Takash is a longtime pro-life activist.)
