Life in the Shelter (from the animal point of view)
My foxiness couldn't save me from the monotony and routine of shelter life, even if I was only there for a few days before being rescued. The humans were very kind to animals, but in a fun-less kind of way being part of the incredibly serious and reputable RSPCA.
It was all very worthy of course, and not all the helpers were like that. I made lots of friends among the human helpers but the happy ones were my favorites. I tried to cheer up the more serious ones by being my adorable self, which always worked because I'm so easy to love. Some of them seemed to have turned to animals because of troubles they had with their own kind, which showed on their bare human faces. Dogs don't have these troubles because we are loyal and true.
The title of the organisation says prevention of cruelty to animals. It doesn't say anything about helping them to shine on like crazy diamonds, which of course is what I wanted to do. I wanted to be wild and free, with lots of leaf litter and grass under my feet, and interesting smells to investigate as any dog would. Instead of my dreary cage, this is how I imagined my surroundings:
But it was all a dream I'm afraid.
So the animals at the shelter had to make their own fun in the margins of all the human kindness being showered somewhat piously on us. It seemed we should be in a permanent state of quiet and humble gratitude. That was not to be, though we could put on a good show to keep the helpers happy if the need arose, like if there were treats on offer.
Now I need to explain something to you humans. The animal shelter was a bit like the Balkans or some other part of the world rent by ethnic tensions. In this case it was species tensions. Most of the animals, except the dogs of course because of our big hearts and status as an exceptional species in every way, saw the humans as little more than food sources. That was especially true of the wretched cats.
Once everyone got used to the shelter routine, the different animals found ways to enjoy their time. For dogs, that involved a couple of things that we enjoy most - smells and barking.
First let me talk about the smells, or maybe not... Oh alright I will then. If you put a bunch of dogs together in rows of pens there is going to be a lot of pong. The humans found it all a bit noxious and were cleaning out our pens on daily basis. But for us it was like a daily bulletin on what was going on in the lives of the other dogs. Our sense of smell is so much better than yours.
Now some of the dogs did overdue it, like the rottweiler Goebells, who would hose his pen in pee every time the humans left. All that got him was a trip to the vet. But he was an exuberant young fellow and pitifully virile. His Rotty slobber alone was enough to start a small car wash. There was never any chance he was going to leave a clean crime scene, which is how he ended up in the shelter.
The other smells that most interested all my doggy friends were from the other animals that were kept at the shelter like rabbits and birds and rodents - in other words prey items. There was a lot of discussion in the dog pens about how to get out - not about how to escape the shelter; but how to get out of our enclosure and into the others for a fresh meal.
That brings us to the barking. Dogs like to chat. Since I was so young and incredibly attractive, you can imagine I attracted a lot of attention from the other dogs, some of it crude and not fit to repeat here because I am a lady!
There was a lot of boasting and banter in the dog barking too, and some bored incoherent ranting, because we are of course dealing with a delinquent group of inmates in many cases - except mine of course! Sometimes I liked to set the pens off with a ladylike bark or two - but that was only to keep morale up, not because I'm yappy!
The cat enclosure was nearby, but not near enough to do any real damage. Hurling abuse at the cats was one good way for us dogs to while away a dull afternoon. Dogs have one big vocal advantage over cats, among a hundred thousand advantages - we have loud voices. The cats just had to pretend they couldn't hear us. They couldn't shout anything back. That made us feel even better. We knew they were listening.
If this is all your day amounts to, you start to understand why all those darling animals in shelters need a real home.
It was all very worthy of course, and not all the helpers were like that. I made lots of friends among the human helpers but the happy ones were my favorites. I tried to cheer up the more serious ones by being my adorable self, which always worked because I'm so easy to love. Some of them seemed to have turned to animals because of troubles they had with their own kind, which showed on their bare human faces. Dogs don't have these troubles because we are loyal and true.
The title of the organisation says prevention of cruelty to animals. It doesn't say anything about helping them to shine on like crazy diamonds, which of course is what I wanted to do. I wanted to be wild and free, with lots of leaf litter and grass under my feet, and interesting smells to investigate as any dog would. Instead of my dreary cage, this is how I imagined my surroundings:
But it was all a dream I'm afraid.
So the animals at the shelter had to make their own fun in the margins of all the human kindness being showered somewhat piously on us. It seemed we should be in a permanent state of quiet and humble gratitude. That was not to be, though we could put on a good show to keep the helpers happy if the need arose, like if there were treats on offer.
Now I need to explain something to you humans. The animal shelter was a bit like the Balkans or some other part of the world rent by ethnic tensions. In this case it was species tensions. Most of the animals, except the dogs of course because of our big hearts and status as an exceptional species in every way, saw the humans as little more than food sources. That was especially true of the wretched cats.
Once everyone got used to the shelter routine, the different animals found ways to enjoy their time. For dogs, that involved a couple of things that we enjoy most - smells and barking.
First let me talk about the smells, or maybe not... Oh alright I will then. If you put a bunch of dogs together in rows of pens there is going to be a lot of pong. The humans found it all a bit noxious and were cleaning out our pens on daily basis. But for us it was like a daily bulletin on what was going on in the lives of the other dogs. Our sense of smell is so much better than yours.
Now some of the dogs did overdue it, like the rottweiler Goebells, who would hose his pen in pee every time the humans left. All that got him was a trip to the vet. But he was an exuberant young fellow and pitifully virile. His Rotty slobber alone was enough to start a small car wash. There was never any chance he was going to leave a clean crime scene, which is how he ended up in the shelter.
The other smells that most interested all my doggy friends were from the other animals that were kept at the shelter like rabbits and birds and rodents - in other words prey items. There was a lot of discussion in the dog pens about how to get out - not about how to escape the shelter; but how to get out of our enclosure and into the others for a fresh meal.
That brings us to the barking. Dogs like to chat. Since I was so young and incredibly attractive, you can imagine I attracted a lot of attention from the other dogs, some of it crude and not fit to repeat here because I am a lady!
There was a lot of boasting and banter in the dog barking too, and some bored incoherent ranting, because we are of course dealing with a delinquent group of inmates in many cases - except mine of course! Sometimes I liked to set the pens off with a ladylike bark or two - but that was only to keep morale up, not because I'm yappy!
The cat enclosure was nearby, but not near enough to do any real damage. Hurling abuse at the cats was one good way for us dogs to while away a dull afternoon. Dogs have one big vocal advantage over cats, among a hundred thousand advantages - we have loud voices. The cats just had to pretend they couldn't hear us. They couldn't shout anything back. That made us feel even better. We knew they were listening.
If this is all your day amounts to, you start to understand why all those darling animals in shelters need a real home.
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