Puppies

I have a packed schedule from now till the New Year, and so I wouldn't be able to update that often. But fret not because last night, I actually stayed up all night to do up a few posts which ideas have been etched in my head for a long time. Of course, the posts won't be released all at once. Instead, I have scheduled them to be released at different times of different days. This way, my blog wouldn't be that dead, would it? Hahah.




Pardon me for being monotonous in my posts. It's just that sometimes, I just loose the power to blog. You know, it's frustrating when you have these ideas and topics to blog about. But when you sit infront of the computer, everything on your mind just disappears. You lose the ideas, or sometimes just have little jigsaw puzzles of them. The words, that completes the puzzle just doesn't fit right. And so, you feel down and angry that an idea you had seconds ago, just disappears. My mum thinks I need to find some inner peace or something like that. An somehow, I do agree. It's been awhile since I visited the SPCA, the library, or simply just heading to East Coast for some breeze. Maybe then, the inspiration to do things would come back again. Just maybe....





Anyway, moving on to today's topic. Well, as the title suggests, it is about puppies. Now most friends would know that I am an animal lover. And dogs especially are liek a part of me. The mere sight of seeing friends spank their dogs or keep them in cages would infuriate me. I feel that humans have no right to be placed as superior just because we are bigger than the dogs, and we have guns and tools to deal with them. Dogs should be respected as how we respect the other humans, because there isn't any rule that states that dogs or any other humans should be treated differently from humans.


My home used to be like a zoo itself. We had quails, lovebirds, tonnes of rabbits and hamsters(because they kept breeding), and dogs. And everytime my parents saw an injured animal on the road, they would bring it home, and we would nurse it back to health before releasing it back. Most of the time, they were baby birds, and we had to feed them with straws just like how their mothers inserted their beaks into theirs so as to vomit the food into their mouths. But of course we didn't vomit food into their mouths.

Well, as time went by, there were so many animals that we had to give them away. All of them were given away for free, and we only kept the dogs. I loved my dogs. The one that was closest to me was Shandy.









A companion for 11 years. A beautiful animal who was a tad bit overweight. She was so lazy that a mere walk to the rubbish bin near my lift and back home, required the owner to carry her instead of she walking on her own. Like her owner, she was very stubborn. She wanted things her way, and would growl at any other pet or human who wanted to take her food or pillow away from her.

She was huge for a silky terrier mix breed. And neighbours called her a "Hairy Pig". Well, if you saw her, you would agree with them.


Her favourite room was her owner's. There were pillows for her, and her owner carried her wherever she went, just like a baby.

She loved eating rice, and am by far the messiest dog her owner has ever seen. Whenever she ate, she would have rice all over her face, nose and hair. She hated whenever her owner tied her fringe up because she loved how she looked with her fringe covering her face. But her owner couldn't stand the messy look on her dog.

Shandy had huge doe-like eyes. She had golden brown fur on her legs, black fur on her back, and grey as her crown. She was gorgeous, lovable and cuddly. But she had an attitude with it. She would ignore her owner if she was too busy for her, with her head turning away whenever her owner came towards her.

But after a few days, the love between them was so strong that they would always forgive each other, and soon enough, you would see them cuddling up, with her owner hugging her and carrying her around the house.

Shandy couldn't talk to her owner. But she made a great listener. She was always there to hear her owner's problems. And always knew when to go up to her owner to cuddle up to her, telling her that deep inside, she cared and would always be there for her.


Friends like Shandy would never be forgotten, because she taught me so many things that people couldn't teach. Well, as much as we loved to, we can't control death. And Shandy had to leave me this year. It was pretty hard for me, being that this year was the most sickening one I've ever had. It was too overwhelming to see her suffer, but I had to stay strong, because I knew she wanted me to. And so we bid farewell.


No dog can ever replace her, but I do hope that I will meet more dogs like her.


Well, after knowing the love one can share with animals, I am sure you would find it quite sickening to know of places that keeps dogs as though they are livestocks. Well, there are, and in America, they are called Puppy Mills.


Click Here to read more about Puppy Mills.


Well, in short, puppy mills are places where dogs are kept for mere breeding purposes. They are placed in cages so small that they have to crawl in order to move about. They do not have enough food, water and are not bathed. I caught an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show and she showed the Life of the dogs in the puppy mills.


I don't have the complete episodes, so here is Episode One and Three.









Not all dogs there are stray dogs. There are pure breed Labradors, Cocker Spanials and so on. I am glad that there are ongoing rescues at the Puppy Mills and I am glad that Singapore doesn't have puppy mills. Dogs do not deserve to be kept in cages. Did you see how hard it was for the dogs to walk normally when they were released from the cages?

And the dogs that were covered in their own urine. And the dogs who were suffering from open wounds and so on.


Well, my aim in this post isn't to bad mouth the Puppy Mills. Because just like Chickens, Pigs, Cows and Sheeps, Dogs are animals, and have every right to used as livestock. They do have a point.

I, of course do not support them. But what I am trying to say is to support the SPCA. You see, every rescued dog would go to the SPCA. But with the increase in dogs being rescued, there wouldn't be enough space for the dogs, and so, those that aren't adopted, would be put to sleep.

If you are a dog lover and want to buy a dog, I suggest going to the SPCA to help these animals and prevent them from being put to sleep. These dogs deserve a chance to be loved and of course, they would grateful, as you gave them a chance to live.


If more people get their pets from SPCAs, then the puppy mills would stop breeding these animals for sale in pet shops.


And for those who still plan on buying a pet, I suggest you think twice. The fate of these animals is determined by you, their owner. Would you have time for them? Shower them with love? Care for them when they have illnesses?


Please don't abandom them.





Loves.

Treatment

When I started this blog (Sitandwhine), I wanted a goal for it, or rather, for myself. It wasn't about hitting the most visits per day, nor was it of me wanting people to talk about my posts while on the streets in Singapore.

It was more like (from my blog's introduction. And The 2 questions were "Have you found joy in your life?" and "Have your life brought joy to others?") bringing joy to my life and to others through my posts, where I share information not only about my life but also about others, as well as opinions too.


But over the year, this goal kept slipping away from my reach, making it harder to get any step closer to my goal.

This went as horrendous as making up revengeful things(like the "water treatment") to do to people my friends and I disliked. But we often ended up bursting in laughter, with nothing much done. But come to think of it, it still isn't very pleasant.


The thought of not helping those whom I felt were deserving still lingered in my head, until one day, when i received this email.

Five (5) lessons to make you think about the way we treat people.

___

1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor
gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student
and had breezed through the questions until I read
the last one:

'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?'

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times. She was tall,
dark-haired and in her 50's, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question
blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if
the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

'Absolutely,' said the professor. 'In your careers,
you will meet many people. All are significant. They
deserve your attention and care, even if all you do
is smile and say 'hello.'

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her
name was Dorothy.

___

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:3 0 p.m., an older African American
woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway
trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had
broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally
unheard of in those conflict-filled 60s.. The man
took her to safety, helped her get assistance and
put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his
address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a
knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a
giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A
special note was attached..

It read:
'Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway
the other night. The rain drenched not only my
clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.
Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying
husband's bedside just before he passed away.. God
bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving
others.'

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

___

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less,
a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and
sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him..

'How much is an ice cream sundae?' he asked.

'Fifty cents,' replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and
studied the coins in it.

'Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?' he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the
waitress was growing impatient.

'Thirty-five cents,' she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins.

'I'll have the plain ice cream,' he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on
the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice
cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress
came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the
table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,
were two nickels and five pennies..

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had
to have enough left to leave her a tip.

___

4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a
roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock Some of the
king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by
and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the
King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did
anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of
vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the
peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. After the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed
a purse lying in the road where the boulder had
been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note
from the King indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The
peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

___

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who
was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only
chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the
illness.. The doctor explained the situation to her
little brother, and asked the little boy if he would
be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, 'Yes I'll do it if it will
save her.' As the transfusion progressed, he lay in
bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did,
seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his
face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away'.

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the
doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his
sister all of his blood in order to save her but he had chosen to save her anyway.

This totally changed my conception of helping people out. Who are we to judge who's worth it or not? But as mush as I want to help, I still find helping strangers way easier and less complaining, than helping our own kin. But I'm still trying to change that concept!



Loves.