Loyal Companions
I live in a very small city which, according to the official census, only has about 90,000 people in it. There's more than that if you take into account the greater area, but it's still much different than where I originally came from: Detroit. There, in the land of sprawl, you feel lost in a system that's much larger than the community.
In downtown Santa Barbara, you start to notice the same homeless people on the street every day. You recognize them, and at times, they clearly recognize you right back. After a year and a half of living in this smaller city, I actually know a few of their first names and have had conversations.
This led me to notice something very interesting: a few of them have dogs. And the other day, I saw one of them pushing a cart filled with cans and scraps of food and clothing, closely followed by a dog. They turned down an alley towards a dumpster behind a building to forage for food, and the dog turned down the alley right behind him.
This wasn't the first time I had a dog following a homeless person around, but it struck me how loyal a dog must be to stick with someone who is so down on their luck. I'm not a big dog person, or a cat person. Actually, I'm not partial to any animals. But sometimes, people seem so quick to turn their backs on other people when things aren't going well.
If you have a family to feed and you're facing hard times, the dog might be the first thing to go, to save precious financial resources. It's understandable, but unfortunate.
The dogs could leave their masters, who are so down on their luck, to go find a companion that has a house, steady income, etc. But they don't. They stick it out with their masters, loyally spending their days at their side, following them wherever they go.
That's really inspiring.
My girlfriend had a great idea: there are often lots of homeless people asking for money on the main street where I live, and a few of them have dogs. Even if you don't feel like giving the the people any spare change, why not carry around a pocket full of dog treats that you can give the dogs?
I think a dog treat manufacturer should run a commercial showing this in action. They'd suddenly have people who don't own dogs interested in buying dog treats. Heck, you could create a dog treat that didn't contain anything that the majority of dogs are allergic to and market it as such. The product name? "Alpo Alms".
In downtown Santa Barbara, you start to notice the same homeless people on the street every day. You recognize them, and at times, they clearly recognize you right back. After a year and a half of living in this smaller city, I actually know a few of their first names and have had conversations.
This led me to notice something very interesting: a few of them have dogs. And the other day, I saw one of them pushing a cart filled with cans and scraps of food and clothing, closely followed by a dog. They turned down an alley towards a dumpster behind a building to forage for food, and the dog turned down the alley right behind him.
This wasn't the first time I had a dog following a homeless person around, but it struck me how loyal a dog must be to stick with someone who is so down on their luck. I'm not a big dog person, or a cat person. Actually, I'm not partial to any animals. But sometimes, people seem so quick to turn their backs on other people when things aren't going well.
If you have a family to feed and you're facing hard times, the dog might be the first thing to go, to save precious financial resources. It's understandable, but unfortunate.
The dogs could leave their masters, who are so down on their luck, to go find a companion that has a house, steady income, etc. But they don't. They stick it out with their masters, loyally spending their days at their side, following them wherever they go.
That's really inspiring.
My girlfriend had a great idea: there are often lots of homeless people asking for money on the main street where I live, and a few of them have dogs. Even if you don't feel like giving the the people any spare change, why not carry around a pocket full of dog treats that you can give the dogs?
I think a dog treat manufacturer should run a commercial showing this in action. They'd suddenly have people who don't own dogs interested in buying dog treats. Heck, you could create a dog treat that didn't contain anything that the majority of dogs are allergic to and market it as such. The product name? "Alpo Alms".