CANINE CITIZENRY
Every year at tax time, I get so frustrated when I have to answer '0' to # of dependents. Why can't they correct tax law to allow us to count our dogs and other pets as dependents? Just because they don't have social security numbers? Animals are family just like children are. Dogs have emotional intelligence – just like children. We need to budget for them just like we do any children we have – food, medical needs, supplies, caretakers when we go away, and so on. Dogs have value just like people. Period.
It's safe to say most animals – especially dogs! - do contribute positively to the fabric of our society while humans... well….. it really depends, doesn’t it? There are wonderful, empathic people and then there are a lot of others who could be described in ways I won’t write here.
Uncle Sam, fix this broken system please! It’s very frustrating to dog parents! I spend most of my 'disposable income' on my dog. He needs and deserves protection, healthy food, filtered water, lots of health-related and safety-related equipment, supplements, appointments to be healthy and live long (touch wood) from his acupuncturist to his regular vet. Because he’s a good boy, he also gets new toys and treats, and we budget gas money for fun day trips to sniff other trails. He also puts smiles on more faces than I do. He has less of a carbon footprint than I do even though he gets in a car once a week and eats meat while I don't.
I want to start a movement for canine citizenship. I have been told that I am the dog lobby. And proud of it I am! Who’s with me? It reminds me of my old dog park friend Gary who’d refer to his dog Ray as a good citizen. Indeed he was. Dogs have huge importance for their people and society. Firstly, they exist for their own beautiful reasons and inspire and comfort so many of us. Secondly, they are the most loyal companions. Remember Hachi, the Japanese dog who inspired two films and a sculpture in Tokyo at Shibuya Station? He waited for his person at the train everyday til Hachi died even though his person had died suddenly one day and thus, never returned home by that train. This same loyalty and heart ache is being seen with dogs in Ukraine now. Thirdly, we have a responsibility to protect the innocent and that includes dogs. We domesticated them thousands of years ago and we bred them (to rely on us!) and continue to do so. Fourth of all, dogs have so many important roles in society.
Dogs are companions who improve people’s lives and health from weight loss to blood pressure reduction to depression elimination. Many have also saved their people from fires and attackers. They are service dogs for people with disabilities and PTSD. They alert parents of kids with seizures. They are search and rescue dogs who save lives under the rubble of earthquakes and other disasters, including my city’s WTC destruction on 9/11. They are therapy dogs who bring joy and calm people isolated in nursing homes. They are emotional support animals for their people with invisible trauma. They are police and military dogs, bravely fighting side by side with personnel. They are strays who befriend and protect military and the rest of us. They are also abandoned, hungry street and shelter dogs, abused and neglected dogs, lab “inmates’ stuck in cages for experiments, puppy mill “inmates” used like commodities instead of sentient beings, and stolen or bred animals for the horrifying pet meat trade who deserve a better life. Dogs are love and deserve loving kindness always.
There are so many iconic dogs from history. Dogs of presidents. Dogs of war who have saved thousands of people. Dogs who went to space (though I don’t condone that since they didn’t have free will and Laika died in space.) Dogs of Hollywood like Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Petey and Toto. College mascots. Dogs from childhood reading and viewing like Clifford and Snoopy. Bosco Ramos, a dog in a small California town, was even afforded the title of Honorary Mayor for a stint. And thanks to the information age and press coverage, there are also scores more stories of hero dogs around the world who saved lives, lifted spirits, and beat the odds. There are also so many dogs forever memorialized and celebrated thanks to social media accounts and books published about dogs like The Dogist’s book https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dogist-elias-weiss-friedman/1121154638 A little trivia for ya – my dog Django was photographed by The Dogist before Elias was well-known and published. Somehow Django didn’t make the cut for the book, but we love The Dogist just the same. He was glad to have me use his photos of Django for this website, in fact.
Did you know there are some dogs buried in cemeteries with their people dating back centuries? I took a wonderful animal-centric tour of the lovely Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. The blog linked here captures some of the animals’ tombstones and stories well. https://blog.nycpooch.com/2016/03/14/dogs-of-green-wood-cemetery-brooklyns-interred-pets/ The Dodo highlights Rex, another good boy. https://www.thedodo.com/daily-dodo/people-are-leaving-sticks-at-this-100-year-old-dog-grave I ran into an artist I know as I was walking in for that tour. She said, “Oh, Greenwood Cemetery is the best. People are dying to get in!” She also told me they have a wait list! No joke. She was there often to paint the beautiful surroundings. Her paintings can be viewed here, by the way. https://www.christinelafuente.com/exhibitions And the legendary Greenwood, here: https://www.green-wood.com/about-history/
I could go on and on about the importance of dogs in the world, in our society and others, in our hearts and in our homes, but if you’re reading this, you likely already know. I will leave you with some additional reading and viewing for inspiration and a reminder to show a dog some love. All dogs, in fact.
Netflix series “Dogs” (featuring the only astronaut I ever met, by the way – a HUGE dog lover in addition to astronaut)
https://www.netflix.com/title/80191036
Some famous dogs of history:
https://www.dogingtonpost.com/6-dogs-that-changed-the-course-of-history/
https://bestlifeonline.com/important-dogs/
https://www.fodors.com/news/photos/memorable-mutts-11-dogs-monuments-around-the-world
Some Presidential Dogs: https://bit.ly/3vwNywn