If you have read this blog before you
know I have voiced my opinions more than once. Today on the
anniversary of Gilby being dumped in a kill shelter I am thinking
about the type of person who does that.
Who do you think that type of person
is? A careless heartless creep, who throws dogs away like dirty
kleenex? Sometimes, but most likely that person is your next door neighbor...
Your next door neighbor, your co-worker, your yoga instructor. Don't
believe me? It's true. There are many, many people out there who
pretend to be do -gooders and it is all for show. Gilby's previous
owner is a prime example!
Gilby's mother was a
puppymill breeder dog. She was sent to a livestock auction where a
rescue group pulled her out of the puppymill rollercoaster. He was
raised in a loving environment by his rescue foster and adopted to a
family in Tennessee. A perfect American family with a big house and a
big yard and the money to take the best care of him. He became an AKC
certified Canine Good Citizen, a therapy dog and was ring bearer in a
wedding. He received excellent veterinary care, but at some point, he
was unwanted. Granted he had a heart condition and a bileous liver
that caused him issues but he was still the sweet dog with the
enormous heart he always had been ,and he loved his family very much.
But none of that mattered. Because he
was unwanted he was left at the county dog pound, a kill facility, to
die because almost NO ONE adopts older dogs. You might think his owner
didn't know any better but the fact is she did. She was active and
knowledgeable in dog obedience, had other dogs and belonged to rescue
groups including one that educated people about puppymills. Reread
that last sentence. Why, you ask, would someone like that dump a dog
at the county dog pound? I wondered why he was dumped too, and when
I pulled him, I asked the dog pound employees if I could contact her.
They said no, the previous owner must remain anonymous but they
offered to call her and let me speak to her, which they did. She told
me what he ate, Iams ( the first clue she was an uncaring dog owner)
and that he was sent to the pound because she was tired of him being
head shy. Really? She wasn't willing to work through that? No, she
wasn't because she is an uncaring dog owner, she only wants people to
think she is kind and compassionate. She doesn't want to do the real
work. Sadly, there are many people like her out there.
The other day I stumbled upon an
advertisement of an upcoming event she is teaching. She is conducting
a Guided Meditation class,Chakra with Chocolate she called it. Yes,
this person who turned her back on an old dog and sent him to an
uncertain future in the county dog pound teaches Yoga, Guided
Meditation, and specializes in helping people with PTSD. Worst of
all she owns dogs and fosters. She professes to be a person teaching
enlightenment but she is nothing but a Charlatan. Using spirituality
and using dogs, so people will think she is something she is not. I
discovered who she was as soon as I got Gilby home from the dog
pound. His CGC medallion was hidden, matted into his coat and had to be cut out. On that medallion was her
name and address, of course I Googled it, wouldn't you wonder who
would do this to a dog? I resent this woman. I worked long and hard
to get Gilby over his heartbreak. I changed his name back from what
she called him to the name he was given when he was born into the
hands of the rescue worker, a name that was given to him out of love.
I put him on a diet that corrected his bileous liver and helped to
stabilize his heart condition. I am certified Reiki and he loved his
Reiki sessions, loved his Chakra balancing (using sound) and his
aromatherapy massages. I spoiled him rotten. But it has still taken
a long time to heal his heartbreak. I resent her for the pain she
caused this sweet dog. I resent that she uses dogs to make herself
look good. I resent that she uses energy healing modalities to make
her look like someone she is not and charges unsuspecting people money for it.
Sadly
there are so many people like her out there. People who pretend to
care and and are completely incapable of true compassion. I have
found that people like her have a deeply imbedded sense of
worthlessness that they NEVER come to terms with. Deep, deep inside
they think they deserve nothing. Having a dog who knows the REAL person and loves them unconditionally, conflicts with their inner knowledge that they are
worthless. They begin to resent that dog...eventually the dog is
mistreated,
dumped or given away. I have seen this
over and over. Just because Gilby's previous owner lives in an
exclusive neighborhood does not exclude her from feeling worthless.
Several years ago a woman I will call
Lisa, consulted me on training her huge dog who was just a big
lovable 140 lb. mutt that had not been given any parameters in the
house. I worked with them both and they were making huge progress.
Then suddenly, she dumped him at our city pound. I was appalled and
let her know in no uncertain terms what I thought. But Lisa, like
Gilbys' previous owner, had no sense of self worth and as she was
developing a bond with her dog and having success with their
training, she could not cope with having someone, even a dog, think
she was wonderful. Often these women have a history of domestic
abuse, either from a spouse or a bad situation growing up. But
truthfully, that is NO EXCUSE! Lots of people come from bad
situations and don't throw away or abuse their dogs.
The people who do, like Lisa and
Gilbys' previous owner, don't take ownership of their lives....they
go through life pretending, pretending,pretending...fearful of
acknowledging their lack of self worth...hoping others believe their
facade, because inside they know they are living a lie.. and sadly,
the dogs who love them will never know true love in return.
