Tough start to the season...
...but things are looking up at the All Star break. Lookout Yanks!One of the great things about the major league baseball season is that it's 162 games long. Rivals climb and descend the standings throughout what is far and away the largest number of games played in any single season of any sport (that I am aware of). This gives baseball fans perspective; we may lose a couple here and there, but the season is long enough to dig out of a pretty deep hole. The Sox started this season off abysmally, and now look at us as we approach the break: 15 games over .500 and only two back from the Yanks.
At the start of the baseball season, Wakefield was doing about as well as Boston...maybe even as bad as the Orioles. On the day I picked him up, I was sure the best I could do for him was to let him die with a full belly on a soft bed with a roof over his head. I was ready to call his passing a victory, if it would occur with the basic comforts he had been denied his entire life. Where do we stand now? Again, about as well as the red hot Sox are doing. I'm happy to say that Wakefield is completely healed of the mange. He's recovered from getting fixed, and now the only issue he's really dealing with is a master that won't let him chew up whatever the hell he wants. Success.
I had a ton of help along the way, and I would be remiss without again thanking the good folks at Till Newell Animal Hospital in Meridian for helping Wakefield along. If you live in Meridian, take your pets to this Vet...you won't find better care anywhere. Also, I've got to thank my wife Lisa, who encouraged me that first afternoon to pick up the disgusting beast when I was on the fence about even touching him. And finally thanks for everyone who read and shared his story along the way. It was my goal in writing this to encourage just one person to take a more compassionate stance towards animals and to make better decisions when choosing and raising a dog. In reading and sharing this story you have helped me accomplish that aim, so thanks again.
So what's next for Wakefield? I'm not quite sure to be honest. Now that he is all healed up, we're considering finding him a good home since we already have two other dogs. There are a couple problems with that prospect though... First off, it's tough to find a good home for a pit bull. They require a fair amount of exercise, and really need a lot of good socialization and training to be good pets (especially for families). Also, a lot of people would love to have a pit bull...so they could chain it in their front yard where it would spend most of it's life treading the same 15 foot diameter circle without the companionship dogs need to stay sane and keep them from becoming aggressive. Bad owners make bad dogs, and I'm not willing to give Wakefield away to anyone who doesn't have the purest of intentions and the time and ability to raise him properly. Secondly, I'm pretty attached to him after what he's been through; I would seriously miss him if he found some new digs. So with the above being the case, if you or someone you know is looking for a sweet, smart, loyal pooch, and you have the means and the time to raise him right, please get in touch with me. If this is causing anyone concern regarding Wakefield's future, don't worry. If we find him another home where he'll be as happy as he is with me, I'll give him up. If not, he'll live out his doggy days with me and I'll probably be better for it.
The end.
Soapbox
Pain is a pretty universal experience. I'm not sure at what point down the food chain sentient beings stop feeling pain, but what I know for certain is that cats, dogs, pigs, cows, chickens, etc. all feel pain. They may not be able to contextualize pain like we can, but you can be damn sure that a dog cowers before a beating just like a human flinches before being struck for the same reason: the desire to minimize and avoid pain. The cruelty towards animals we allow in our civilized society is unacceptable, and it exists because we allow it to exist. We get upset when we see Michael Vick out of prison and making mega-bucks again, but at the same time we're eating a Tyson chicken breast or a McDonald's cheeseburger that was taken from the most abused animals that exist anywhere. We're horrified when we hear stories of horses or shelter animals starved nearly to death through negligence, but we find ourselves too busy to think of the little decisions we make every day that allow suffering to exist. I read a book a few years ago called 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' that really changed the way I thought about food specifically but animals and their welfare in a more general sense. If you're not a big reader (and the book can be boring in places), then check out the ASPCA or any of a thousand non-fringe animal welfare groups and see what little decisions you can make every day to help end suffering. Adopt, donate, volunteer, shop and eat responsibly...the number of things you can do to help those that can't help themselves is limitless.
The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" ~Jeremy Bentham
Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight. ~Albert Schweitzer
