As we say goodbye to the New Year, I thought it would be good to celebrate the human-animal bond and to have a little fun with New Year’s Resolutions.
Many of us can attest to the fact that our pets are blessings to us. Even though they may aggravate and irritate us at times, in the grand scheme of things, we can’t imagine life without them. The loyalty, the unconditional love, and the lack of judgments they offer us can be so refreshing and healing when the humans in our life fail to offer these when we really need them. As this excerpt points out, often when we think we are rescuing an animal, we are actually the ones being rescued:
I Rescued A Human Today by Janine Allen
Posted by Janine Allen at Monday, November 17th, 2008.
I RESCUED A HUMAN TODAY by Janine Allen
Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her.
I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn’t be afraid. As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t been walked today. Sometimes the overworked shelter keepers get too busy and I didn’t want her to think poorly of them.
As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn’t feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone’s life.
She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her. Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship. A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.
Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms.
I would promise to keep her safe.
I would promise to always be by her side.
I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.
I would promise to always be by her side.
I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.
I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven’t walked the corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.
I rescued a human today.
“Written by Janine Allen CPDT, Rescue Me Dog's professional dog trainer. Janine's passion is working with people and their dogs. She provides demonstrations for those who have adopted shelter dogs, lends email support to adopted dog owners that need information beyond our Training Support Pages, and aids shelter staff and volunteers in understanding dog behavior to increase their adoptability. Copyright 2011 Rescue Me Dog; www.rescuemedog.org”
RESOLUTIONS
In searching information about resolutions concerning animals, I came across a set of resolutions set forth by the Episcopal Church. This Convention sets official policy for the Episcopal Church and they have been adopting resolutions for animal care and welfare at these conventions since the 19th Century. It is nice to see a church officially recognize the divine gifts the animals are to us and our responsibilities to them. In the last decade they have passed three resolutions as follows:
· Resolution 2003-D016, Support Ethical Care of Animals
· Resolution 2009-C078, Liturgy for Loss of Companion Animal
· Resolution 2009-D015, Merciful and Humane Treatment of God’s Creatures
These can most easily be read on the Humane Society’s website through the following link: http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/faith/the_episcopal_church_1.pdf
We will all most likely make resolutions for our health, weight, family, career, faith, finances, etc. While you are at it, maybe you can make some for your pets. Resolve to give them a better diet, regular preventative care, regular grooming, or maybe just more time and attention. I bet you both will benefit from that one; it will not require a membership; there are no out of pocket expenses; it should not feel restrictive; your pets will not harshly judge you should you falter; and it will lower your stress levels.
Now what if our pets decided to make resolutions about US? They might look something like those below.
Please forgive the reposting but these were just too good to pass up. Please take the time to visit the sites from which these tidbits were gleaned and enjoy the other things they have to say on their sites.
A Dog's New Year Resolutions
· I will stop trying to find the few remaining clean pieces of carpet in the house when I am about to throw up. · I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc. · I will not eat other animals' poop. · I will not lick my human's face after eating animal poop. · I will not eat my own vomit. · I will not eat "kitty box crunchies". · I will not eat any more socks and then re-deposit them in the backyard after processing. · The diaper pail is not a cookie jar. I will not eat the disposable diapers, especially the dirty ones. · I will not chew my human's toothbrush and not tell them. · I will not chew crayons or pens, specially not the red ones, or my people will think I am hemorrhaging. · When in the car, I will not insist on having the window rolled down when it's raining outside. · I will not drop soggy tennis balls in the underwear of someone who is sitting on the toilet. · I will not bark each time I hear a door bell on TV. · I will not walk under the big dog when he is peeing. · I will not steal Mom's underwear and dance all over the back yard with it. · I will not play tug-o'-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet. · The sofa is not a face towel. Neither are Mom & Dad's laps. · My head does not belong in the refrigerator. · I will not bite the officer's hand when he reaches in for Mom's driver's license and car registration. · I do not need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm lying under the coffee table. · I will not roll my toys behind the fridge. · The garbage collector is NOT stealing our stuff. · I must shake the rainwater out of my fur BEFORE entering the house. |
Collected from: http://corsinet.com/braincandy/hdogcat7.html
A Cat's New Year Resolutions
· My human will never let me eat her pet hamster, and I am at peace with that. · I will not puff my entire body to twice its size for no reason after my human has finished watching a horror movie. · I will not slurp fish food from the surface of the aquarium. · I must not help myself to Q-tips, and I must certainly not proceed to stuff them down the sink's drain. · I will not eat large numbers of assorted bugs, then come home and puke them up so the humans can see that I'm getting plenty of roughage. · I will not lean way over to drink out of the tub, fall in, and then pelt right for the box of clumping cat litter. (It took FOREVER to get the stuff out of my fur.) · I will not stand on the bathroom counter, stare down the hall, and growl at NOTHING after my human has finished watching The X-Files. · I will not use the bathtub to store live mice for late-night snacks. · I will not perch on my human's chest in the middle of the night and stare into her eyes until she wakes up. · We will not play Herd of Thundering Wildebeests Stampeding Across the Plains of the Serengeti over any humans' bed while they're trying to sleep. · Screaming at the can of food will not make it open itself. · I cannot leap through closed windows to catch birds outside. If I forget this and bonk my head on the window and fall behind the couch in my attempt, I will not get up and do the same thing again. · I will not assume the patio door is open when I race outside to chase leaves. · I will not intrude on my human's candle-lit bubble bath and singe my bottom. · I will not stick my paw into any container to see if there is something in it. If I do, I will not hiss and scratch when my human has to shave me to get the rubber cement out of my fur. · If I bite the cactus, it will bite back. · When it rains, it will be raining on all sides of the house. It is not necessary to check every door. · Birds do not come from the bird feeder. I will not knock it down and try to open it up to get the birds out. · The dog can see me coming when I stalk her. She can see me and will move out of the way when I pounce, letting me smash into floors and walls. That does not mean I should take it as a personal insult when my humans sit there and laugh. · I will not play "dead cat on the stairs" while people are trying to bring in groceries or laundry, or else one of these days, it will really come true. · When the humans play darts, I will not leap into the air and attempt to catch them. · I will not swat my human's head repeatedly when she's on the family room floor trying to do sit ups. · When my human is typing at the computer, her forearms are *not* a hammock. · Computer and TV screens do not exist to backlight my lovely tail. · I am a walking static generator. My human doesn't need my help installing a new board in her computer. |
Collected from: http://corsinet.com/braincandy/hdogcat8.html
Resolve to better your pets’ lives today, and I bet they will better yours regardless.
Happy New Year to you, your family, and all the living non-human blessings in your life!
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