My Life as a Dog: A Diary

Warning - it's a real tear jerker!

1st week - Today I am one week old. What a joy to be part of this
World!

1 month - My mother takes very good care of me. She's really an
exemplary mother.

2 months - Today I was separated from my mother. She was very
restless and with her eyes bade me good-bye. I hope my new "human"
family will take as good care of me as she has.

4 months - I have grown very rapidly, everything attracts my
attention. There are several children in the house who are like
little brothers to me. We play a lot, they pull on my tail and I give
them little bites in good fun.

5 months - Today I was yelled at. My mistress was all upset because I
peed inside the house. But I was never told where exactly I should do
it. I also sleep in the hall. I was very unhappy about that!

8 months - I am a very happy dog! I have the warmth of a home, I feel
so safe, so protected... I think that my human family loves me. The
courtyard is all mine and, oftentimes, I exceed myself, digging the
ground like my ancestors, the wolves, to hide the food. They never
try to teach me anything. It must be all right then, all these things
I am doing!

12 months - Today I am one year old. I am an adult dog. But my
masters say that I have grown more than they had expected. How proud
they must be of me!

13 months - Today I was tied up. I was almost unable to move, to
catch a sunbeam when I feel cold, or to shade myself when the sun is
on high. They say they are going to observe me and that I am
ungrateful. I don't understand a thing of what is happening to me.

15 months - All is changed now... They keep me locked up in the
veranda. I feel very lonely. My human family doesn't want me any
more. Sometimes they forget that I am thirsty and hungry. When it
rains, I don't have a roof above my head...

16 months - Today they removed me from the veranda. I was sure that
my human family had forgiven me. I was so happy that I was leaping
with excitement. My tail was working like a fan. What's more, I
thought they were going to take me for a walk!!! We took the
direction of the highway and, all of a sudden, they stopped the car,
opened the door and I got out, happy, thinking that we would spend
the day in the country. I don't understand why they closed the door
and left. Listen, wait! I barked. They have forgotten me... I run
after the car with all my strength. My anguish grew as I started to
understand, as I was out of breath and they were not stopping, that
they had abandoned me!

17 months - I looked in vain for the way back home. I am alone and
feel lost. On my wanderings, I meet some people with a good heart who
look at me with sorrow and give me some food. I thank them with my
eyes, from the bottom of my soul. I wish they would adopt me. I would
be loyal like none before me! But they just say: "poor little dog, it
must be lost".

18 months - Some days ago, I went by a school and saw many children
and youngsters like my little brothers. I got closer and a group of
those youngsters, laughing, threw a shower of stones at me, just to
see who would aim best. One of those stones hit me in one eye and,
since, I can't see at all with it.

19 months - Its incredible. When I was better looking, people took
pity on me. I am very weak now, and look awful. I've lost one eye,
and people show me the broom when I try to rest in the shade
somewhere.

20 months - I find it increasingly difficult to move. Today, while
trying to cross the street, I was hit by a car. I was in the
pedestrian crossing zone, but I will never forget the satisfied look
of the driver, who even praised himself for having hit me. I wish he
had indeed killed me! But he only dislocated my hind legs! The pain
is insufferable! The legs are not obeying me, and only with great
difficulty was I able to drag myself to the grass on the roadside.
For ten days I have been exposed to the burning sun, the hard rain,
the cold, without food. I can no longer move. The pain is
insufferable. I am in a very humid place, and it looks like even my
hair is falling. Some passers-by do not even notice me; others say:
don't come any closer. I am almost unconscious, but a bit of strength
from deep inside forces me to open my eyes. The sweetness of her
voice made me react. Poor little dog, look how they have left you, it
was saying. With her was a man in a white apron who touched me and
said: I am sorry, lady, but this dog won't make it. Its better to
help him out of his suffering. The kind lady, tears flowing down her
cheeks, acquiesced. As well as I could, I moved my tail and thanked
her, with my eyes, for helping me to finally rest in peace.

While I was feeling the slight prickle of the needle, before that long
lasting sleep, my last thought was: why did I have to be born, if no
one wanted me?

Friends.

The solution is not to abandon or cast away a dog, but to educate
him. Do not turn into a problem for society such a lovable and
grateful friend.

Help in making the ignorant aware of their ignorance and thus end the
ill treatment of all animals, especially that of the strays.

Forward this story to as many people as possible.
It only takes a minute!!!

Posted on SHARE Yahoo group Jul 5, 2004