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I Heart My Dogs

  I was listening to a radio show this afternoon, while I waited for my daughter to come out of school.
  I listen to it quite often, and mostly find myself in disagreement with the two male hosts. Especially when the topic has anything to do with pets or animals in general, for that matter.

  Today, they were asking listeners to call in and tell them if they consider their pets to be family. If they call their pets their kids or grand kids, or if they refer to themselves as mommy or daddy to their pets.

I must admit first, that whenever I hear that the topic these two radio hosts, Dominski and Doyle are going to talk about is anything pet related, my blood begins to boil! They never have anything positive to say about animals, or the people who love them. They have no tolerance for animal welfare....you can hear the disdain in their voices, and quite frankly, it pisses me off! I immediately envision letting my nine year old call them, on air, and give them a piece of her mind, while I listen and chime in if they were to dare say ANYTHING negative to her! Whew! (Sorry for the rant!!)

London has often asked me to call in and then let her speak her mind. I can honestly say, that I don't trust those two guys to be civil with her, or try to have a heart and see her point, especially when it's coming from a child.

Two years ago, when London was in second grade, she referred to her pets as her siblings on a project she did. "Sibling of ten pets" is how she phrased it. I have this precious card hanging in my closet to cherish forever.

So yes, D&D, we do and always will, consider our pets to be a part of our family. Why? Because they are.
And why not? Why shouldn't pets be part of our families and just as important to us as our children? They are innocent like children, and need to be looked after and cared for, like children and babies.

How about we all start treating animals with the respect, love, and the caring that we give others? How about we begin to see them for the innocent souls that they are...innocent beings that need to be loved, protected and cherished.
What would happened if we looked at animals like we look at humans. Maybe we would begin to make a slight shift in the way animals are treated. Maybe our hearts would expand to include these joyful beings. Maybe we would begin to make a positive change for animals.

Change starts with one act of kindness, one act of selflessness, one act of love.

What are your thoughts on this topic? And what do you say to people who consider it a little strange or silly, to treat animals like we treat humans?
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