Love lost: Dog ignored for most of her life sent away in old age

DEAR JOAN >> The dog had been with one owner since she was a puppy. The Labrador and the young man formed a tight bond, but she wasn’t trained and was a bit of a handful. He said, for the first three years, that she was “still a puppy” and therefore not trainable.

Then he got married, had children and was working 9 to 5. Most of the day, the dog was confined to a small space at the side of the house or the garage. She was less welcome inside the house. She became less of a companion and more of a nuisance. When she was in her senior years, she was shipped off to a rescue group.

The story of this dog is just one of many within my own group of friends and family. These are the people closest to me — intelligent, thoughtful and kind. Yet when it comes to dogs, all of those qualities seem to disappear. If the good people I know do unconscionable things and are oblivious to misguided thinking, I despair of how companion animals are treated in general.

The case of the young man and the Labrador is the saddest to me. It never seemed to occur to him that he was the dog’s family, the only one she had ever known, and that she loved him.

When she was old, he separated her from everything she knew and placed her in a strange place with strange people, confined to a cage. He never seemed to consider that he broke her heart.

His dismissive comment was that she would find another home. She was lucky; she did. That does not excuse what he did. Because he feels he did nothing wrong, he should not have another dog, does not deserve one. But he did get one, from a breeder.

I know that millions of dogs and cats and other animals are loved and cared for as they deserve to be, that those who care for them understand the commitment they have undertaken. I take solace in that.

What I can do is offer to everyone ways to think about the animals they choose to share their lives. If it helps one beating canine heart in this life, then my own heart’s burden is a bit lighter. — S.B., Martinez DEAR S.B. >> I’m going to guess that we have a lot of people crying into their corn flakes this morning, myself included, with this sad story of a misguided young man who didn’t recognize love when it came bounding up to him.

We read and hear so many stories of animal abuse and neglect, and the flipside — people who love pets so much that they have far too many to take care of. I understand one, but not the other.

Pets are not furniture, accessories nor the trappings of style or status. They are living beings who rely on us not only for care and comfort, but for love and attention all the days of their lives. Whether you buy from a breeder or adopt from a shelter, each animal is unique save for one thing — their desire to be loved.

I can understand people who don’t want a pet, whether they don’t have the time for them, have a fear or dislike of them, or just have no interest in sharing their life with a pet. But I’ll never be able to comprehend why someone would get a pet, then ignore or mistreat it.

Thank you for speaking up for pets.