Animal Love - Adlin Taylor-Brissett (classic novels for teens txt) 📗

No other animals have provided more aid and comfort for humans than dogs. They make our lives far better every day. They serve us as domesticated pets, they make great rescuers, especially in large-scale disasters such as earthquakes. They serve as working dogs in so many areas of our daily lives such as guards, guides and assist people with therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other illnesses. I’ve experienced and enjoyed, true, unrestricted, pure animalistic love from my carefree companions who are no less than strange creatures.

Take Leonardo my black siemese for instance, when he stares up at me with his yellowish colored eyes I can’t tell what he is thinking. He's cagey and reserves. I think that I am the only one who is allowed to touch him. He much prefers to be alone and shies away from strangers. He sometimes hides away in his man cave and only comes out to eat and relieve himself. Then he sneaks back to his secret place. He's weird and wants what he wants. He's often very vocal about it. He is finicky and set in his ways. He only wants to eat special food and won’t try anything else. He loves seafood and is a meat and gravy guy. Usually, I give in to him, if not he just keeps on bothering me.

He is shy, but he rushes to the door to greet me most of the time. For the first couple of minutes, he’s under my feet, brushing against my legs and letting me know he loves me. We have shared a very long relationship. He's now one hundred and five years old, and he has spent all of them with me. There is one thing I’m certain of, and it’s that he loves me unconditionally.

And there’s this spunky Pomeranian, Charlie who is my other love. When he looks at me, I can see the love in his eyes for me. Blinking up at me with his big brown eyes, jumping up and down excitedly, wagging his tail and barking loudly, he’s always excited to see me every time. Although he’s small, he has a dominating personality and a huge ego.

He's possessive and sometimes wants all of my attention. He's playful, active, intelligent, friendly and sociable, but has the tendency to behave badly towards people, mostly males. He has a jealous streak. Whenever a stranger gets too close to me, he doesn’t like it. Some people he just doesn’t like at all, and since I barely speak his language, I clearly don’t understand his reasons.

Charlie is warm and devoted; he suffers terribly from separation anxiety whenever I leave. He loves to give me kisses and he loves to snuggle. He’s always excited to see the family, especially if he hasn’t seen them in a while. And he never forgets a person no matter how long they've been away. He’s not too hard to please, but he loves to beg, and sometimes whines incessantly, especially if I tell him no and ignores him. He eats most things and I often call him greedy.

Sometimes he makes a mess and I fuss at him because he doesn’t clean up after himself. I realized he can’t help how demanding and attention seeking he is; that's his natural disposition. The truth is, even though he drives me crazy at times, we love each other unconditionally.

And then there is Alexis my Russian Blue, she was so beautiful. She was a treasure. She was so loyal, sweet, and was the most loving little girl I’ve ever met. Her eyes were emerald green and they changed color sometimes. Her hair was the most beautiful shade of chalk coal gray, and she had the greatest personality. She grew into a fine lady, and then a wonderful old lady.

My pets are my friends too. They are not judgmental, and they don’t care what I look like in the mornings, they don’t know if I’m having a bad hair day, and they don’t talk back (even though I swear Charlie does try). But they do know when I’m not feeling well, and they dole out love on me. They get up when I get up in the middle of the night.

People have enjoyed a fondness and have a great relationship with animals for centuries. It’s easy to see why people regard animals in general as having human qualities. Dogs and elephants are perhaps best known for having the reputation of being extremely faithful and caring. There are countless true stories written over the years about the dynamic devotion between human and their pets. Even though pets have the potential of becoming ferocious, once they’re devoted to their masters or caretakers there is little chance that they will ever harm them. Our pets are not able to go shopping for us, or give us presents, or remember your birthday, but they give us something just as good. They provide love, protection, companionship, loyalty and are faithful to the end.

People love their pets, and people around the world spend millions caring for them. They build fancy houses for them, buy them expensive jewelry, employs highly paid sitters for them, spend a lot on food, toys, clothing, grooming and health care. Some people take them on vacation, and some people even go as far as to be buried with their pet’s ash.

Animals possess sharp awareness and they are extremely sensitive. All animals have a language of their own and they know how to communicate with each other. However, strange enough or by a miracle, they know how to communicate with us too. Cats and especially dogs possess great communication skills. Before the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, or I hear a sound, my pets already sense what’s going on, and they can hear the faintest sound.

This is a true story about Tibbs the cats. Once I was disciplining my son, and with his back turned towards me, I was swatting him on his butt when Tibbs the cat who was lying on his bed suddenly leaped off the bed and attacked me. Needless-to-say we were both stunned, but also thought it was funny and started laughing. Tibbs was very close to my son and would sleep on his bed, and somehow would get in the armoire and sleep on his clothes. Also, when my son was a little boy he would often fall asleep watching television on the couch with Bobby the mutt snuggled up to him. Well, I can tell you that I was never able to wake my son up because Bobby wouldn’t have. Bobby wouldn’t permit anyone to move him and he would have to sleep there until he wakes up.

My heart breaks when people inflict pain on animals, or subject them inhumane tortures and sufferings. I have watched the rescue videos and I can see the pain in their eyes and body language. Animals, like people, have rights too. Our society and culture have built a world around pets, using them in TV commercials, movies, and in so many aspects of our lives. Most of us do take very good care of them.

Our pets are our family and friends. People typically love them as much as they love their children. My dearest girl Alexis, my beautiful Russian Blue passed away at the age of one hundred and fifteen, almost two years ago. And Charlie Boy, my spunky, lovable Pomeranian also departed at the age of ninety-one, roughly six weeks ago. Leo, my endurable Siamese is still here with me, but he’s a very old man, so I know he too will leave me soon.

They have given me the reason to laugh out loud many times, and they gave me a lot of love. Most people feel grief, loss, sadness, and cry when they lose their pets. Why not. After spending years giving and receiving affection from them, and experiencing unquestionable loyalty from them it hard not to grieve their loss. I miss them terribly, but I take comfort that they are in pet heaven. “Dogs and cats are people best friends too.”

Charlie Boy

 Lexis

Text: Adlin Taylor-Brissett
Images: Jenny Taylor
Cover: Jenny Taylor
Publication Date: 09-18-2017

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To animal lovers around the world.