My day started out so well today, I was taking a peaceful walk in downtown Hermosa Beach, and passed a lovely young man working with his dog on Pier Avenue. He was so kind and gentle, and when the dog did what he asked, he gave the dog a nice treat and praise. They both looked so happy, and I was so proud to be a human!
Then, as I proceeded down to Starbucks with my rascal, Toby, we approached the very busy coffee shop, where probably a dozen dogs were camped outside with their humans enjoying a morning cup of Joe (the people, that is). There were probably fifty people there (I'm not exaggerating). As we passed two cute, but nervous and fearful, Chihuahuas, all the peace ended. The two little rascals went nuts, barking and growling at Toby (please note, I don't blame the dogs for this, I question their Human's decision to put them in such a circumstance, keep reading). As the dogs were getting upset, their Human (if you can call her that), ran out and SMACKED one of them across the face. SMACKED! The dog cowered and yelped and stopped barking (yeah, I would too, if I knew that was going to happen). I immediately intervened, and said, "Hey, is that necessary, the dog is just scared?" She went on to tell me to mind my own business, blah, blah, blah, adding a "Honey," at the end of her rant. I walked away with my pup, Toby, feeling horrible about those two little guys taking such abuse. At least she stopped hitting the dogs, for the time being. The worst part, next to the actual treatment of the dogs, is that NO ONE, NOT ONE other person said a DANG thing! In fact, I don't think anyone cared. The energy was so complacent, I felt like jumping up and saying, "Hey, what's wrong with you people? She just smacked a poor, innocent, animal. Don't you care?" This BROKE MY HEART. Is this the world we live in? Are people so scared of conflict or embarrassment, or of "not looking nice," that they'll stand idly by and watch something like this happen? Is this the world we live in? I sure hope not! If so, we are all doomed! One thing I cannot stand in the Human Race is lack of Courage. I wish more people had the Courage to stand up against what's wrong, rather than numbly walking through life in a fog of fear.
Sigh...
So for the rest of my day, I will focus on that lovely young man and his happy, well adjusted dog. People like him give me Hope!
(and dogs like my sweethearts, Toby, Spencer and Rusty, shown in photo above)
