Dog Park

[Michael_Stones]

The dog in the foreground is Sammee. Her former dwelling was a northern reserve. She was most likely part of in feral pack. Her life owes to a humane policeman that couldn't bear to shoot a young pregnant dog during a periodic cull. She had three pups after arrival at the rescue centre. The vet said "This dog cannot take one more thing". Although a physical and mental mess when we adopted her, she's bright, brave, and quickly became a favourite of all the dogs and their people at the dog park. A queen among dogs, no less.​

 

[Asher Kelman]

View attachment 5537

The dog in the foreground is Sammee. Her former dwelling was a northern reserve. She was most likely part of in feral pack. Her life owes to a humane policeman that couldn't bear to shoot a young pregnant dog during a periodic cull. She had three pups after arrival at the rescue centre. The vet said "This dog cannot take one more thing". Although a physical and mental mess when we adopted her, she's bright, brave, and quickly became a favourite of all the dogs and their people at the dog park. A queen among dogs, no less.​

A good example of compassion!

I taught my boys to catch house invading crickets and caterpillars and release them safely outside.

However I have killed a huge number of ants. Symbolically I let one escape, now and then out of respect for millions of years of gener perfection in its DNA

Asher

 

[Michael_Stones]

Thanks for the comment Asher. Different cultures treat non-human species differently. The extremes perhaps range from vermin to de facto family members. Sammee is one of the latter, as are the others in the dog park population. You’ll note that the other dogs in the photo have husky looks, meaning that they are also probable rescues from northern reserves. Thunder Bay has several canine rescue organizations supported by vets and volunteer dog borders, until permanent homes are found. That’s one reason why I so like our city.

i doubt if viewers can comprehend reasons for the structure of the photo unless they know about dog park culture. It isn’t accidental that the human forms are incomplete whereas the dogs are fully displayed. In the dog park culture, humans are secondary to dogs. Nearly every regular attender knows Sammee by name and the names of most of the other dogs. Few people know me as Mike or know the names of the other dog owners. I’m simply called “Sammee’s Dad’, or that “he’s Sammee’s” to indicate a relationship. Cropping the human forms in the photo was my way to illustrate that.