Thy Neighbor's Needy Pet

By Linda Spurlin

Animals have always been a part of my life. I remember anguish, as a child, trying to figure out what to buy a cat for Christmas. Thankfully, it didn't take me long to realize there isn't a much better gift for a cat then a can of tuna fish. Now, many years later, I no longer worry about Christmas presents for my animals. They are well fed, sheltered, loved beyond all reason or common sense, and want for nothing except for more time with me. Most of our pets spend the majority of their furry little lives waiting for us to come home from work. We come home and open the door to a slobbering, tail wagging, bouncing welcoming committee whose entire life is now complete because we have reentered their lives again.

Some people never experience this joy because their dog is tied in the backyard. Worse yet, he may not even have his own doorway to watch his master from. Many dogs live out their lives tied in the backyard, day in and day out, season after season. While their masters sit in front of the air conditioner on hundred degree days, their dog pants in the back yard with an empty water dish and little or no shade. While the masters snuggle in front of the stove on winter evenings, the dog sits, wet and shivering under the apple tree. But as an unofficial member of the 'chain gang', he has no choice in life but to remain chained to his tree.

Every winter the Boy Scouts collect food for the needy. People invite those who normally never darken our doorway into their homes for the holidays. Who could possibly be more needy then some of these backyard chain gang members? My dog may not need anything for Christmas, but if my neighbor's dog obviously does, why wouldn't I offer him assistance? Why would those of us who can afford to offer food and shelter to those in need, exclude man's best friend from the needy list? Are we that afraid of offending someone by being helpful? Since when is help, offered with good intentions and an honest heart, considered offensive? Still worried? How about being a silent savior? Set a bag of dog or cat food on some needy soul's porch and run! Put that old doghouse you never use where a chained dog can reach it. Leave a donation at the vet clinic for those who can't afford to get Fido or Fluffy 'fixed'. Leave a useful gift for the pet of a lonely senior who can barely afford their own food, and would go without their own medications to feed their pet.

This holiday season, let your gift giving ideas go beyond the norm and extend into the yards and hearts of the furry minority. You will sleep better, knowing a starving belly is at least temporarily filled, or that the rain is beating on a lonely dog's roof instead of his whole body.