Oh my! A reader just pointed out that my recent columns have focused on fleas, super fleas, dogs barking, cats scratching, cats peeing where you don’t want them to pee, and the sad fact that hamsters eat their young. Don’t I have anything positive to say about animals?
In my defense, I’ve been asked to write a “tips” column, so my flea articles were about how to keep them off your pet, my cat scratching and cat peeing and dog barking columns were strategies to get them to stop (at least reduce) unwelcome behaviors, and my underlying message about hamsters and other small animals was that they take as much care as do dogs and cats and none of them should be a small child’s responsibility alone. So there!
Do I really need to say the obvious? So be it. I love animals with all my heart. That includes my Frida who barks incessantly and my Puccini who occasionally misses the litter box. It includes the many I’ve lived with and lost over the years. Hamish, that sweet big dog who loved everyone he met and was such a goofy character he growled at his own tush whenever he passed gas. Tsimmes, the red tabby who’d sit on my lap for hours, purring contentedly, staring directly in my eyes until one of us would fall asleep. So many animals over so many years, even Clovis the Hermann’s tortoise now wandering around my office floor, stopping occasionally to nibble on my shoe.
The owls, finches and squirrels my wife brings home from her shift as a PHS/SPCA wildlife volunteer, animals we raise in our outdoor enclosure as a last step before they’re released to the wild. The red tail hawks I see when hiking up San Bruno Mountain, the rubber boa we once spotted on the way down.
My tip this week: Cherish the opportunities we have to be with the animals.
Ken White is the president of the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.