Some People Are Better off In Cages

I always walk around my neighborhood (No, I’m not replacing Mr. Rogers) twice a day during the summer months. Since my lung cancer diagnosis, I’ve been concerned with a study that correlates low levels of Vitamin D and the emergence of this cancer. To soak up as many rays as I can, I love a quiet meditative stroll before I teach summer school in the early morning, and then later in the day, I’ll “roll” my son around in his wheelchair for a breath of fresh air.

On one of our romps, I noticed that a house that was for sale had some out of state cars in the driveway and inside the garage; I saw a large chocolate brown dog (possibly a pit bull) stuck in a cage that barely accommodated his frame. Our weather has been rather hot and humid recently, and I was appalled that anyone would leave a poor defenseless animal trapped in an airless garage on the hot cement floor.

Being the ultimate animal lover, I asked the twenty-something young man why his dog was confined in that manner? He responded angrily that I was a nosy neighbor, and it was his dog, and he’d do anything he chose to it. I told him he’d have a lot of explaining to do to the police, since what he was doing was clearly animal abuse. He menacingly asked my name and told me to “come here”. I told him I don’t follow orders, that I wasn’t his poor defenseless dog and he could find out my name from the police. He yelled again about being nosy and that he could do what he wanted with his animal.

I was furious and marched home to call the animal control officer in my suburb. As I was wheeling Jay around a second time, I saw the squad car approach the home, but the man never answered the door. I don’t know what will be done, but if I see the dog again in the garage, I intend to call a second time. Put me on a jury in animal court, and watch me sentence him to a day in his garage inside the metal cage. His dog and I will stay in the shade, drinking ice tea and a bowl of water for his “best Friend”, while he can beg to be let out of his self-made and richly deserved prison..