A long, but very good read for all the animal folks out there, and good writing is getting to be an endangered species these days.
I have buried many a pet, stretching from coast to coast now. The irony is I am not really even a pet person. Every pet I have ever had was an act of serendipity. Neighbors giving me unwanted pets, ones showing up at my door, ex-wives deciding to leave me with the dog in exchange for my bank account, etc. I always left them in pretty nice graves though. Shelby's final resting place in my backyard has become a neighborhood shrine, with all the little girls laying painted rocks over her. She touched a lot of lives on her two daily walks around the hood. Even now I will see a nostalgic teenage girl sneak in and place a new rock on Shelby's grave. I am now down to Urtles the Tortoise, as we eye each other warily after almost fifty years, wondering who will die first.
I sometimes wonder if domesticating animals to become pets was such a good idea to begin with. For every well cared for and loved pet there are scores more that lead horrid lives of neglect. Plus, we take noble, beautiful, free animals and breed them into clowns with contorted bodies that don't function well in real life. Actually, I discussed this very concept with an animal control officer a few days ago, and he agreed whole heartily. He told me some horrific stories of animal abuse, neglect, and bred in health issues.
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