while walking bagel today, i came across a weimeraner. he walked very slow, almost like he had hip problems. he looked older and didn’t have a collar on. i followed him up to a house with a white sedan parked backwards in the driveway. he began barking at bagel and i. i looked around and there was a lady a few houses down taking out her trash. i waved her down and asked her if anyone had a weimeraner that was missing. she said she didn’t know, but asked about a physical description of the weimeraner. i told her about his gait, his age, etc. she told me the saddest story. so, his name is buddy and he is around 12 years old. there was a family that lived at the house with the white sedan, until the parents got split up. the dad took the son and the mother kept the daughter. my neighbor says she doesn’t take care of buddy and that he will bark to come in the house and they won’t let him in. man, that just about ruined my day. i cannot stand people who cannot take care of their animals. animals should be family, anything less is unacceptable. once our conversation ended, i went about my way with bagel walking into the cold of the night thinking of buddy. i felt so bad, yet there was nothing i could do. i felt helpless and it made me sad in a way i don’t feel too often.
when bagel and i got home, there was no doubt in my mind bagel had fed off of my mood. i fed him and gave him a treat, hoping he knew he would never be cold in the night of the fall or the winter.
-ratha, 6:11pm, 11.18.18