Posted on 05/02/2023 10:37:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Last week, Otto, my beloved English bulldog, died. He died as he lived -- peacefully. His presence in our home for 12 years was an unmitigated joy. He also, amazingly, became the best-known dog in America through sheer happenstance; he was on camera during almost all of my nearly 300 weekly Fireside Chats for PragerU and became the hero of a series of PragerU books for children. Moreover, as I have often noted, none of this fame went to his head.
The sadness I feel at Otto's death and the outpouring of condolence messages to my wife and me have caused me to reflect on two long-held concerns about pets.
Concern No. 1: I have long feared that many people are replacing love of humans with love of animals. When I first started public speaking in my 20s, I would ask high school students, "If your dog and a stranger were both drowning, which one would you try to save first?"
From the first time I asked this question to the present day, in nearly every instance, one-third of the students voted to save the stranger, one-third voted for their dog, and one-third declined to vote. In other words, for more than 40 years, two-thirds of high school students have not voted to save a human being they didn't know before their dog.
The primary reason they have always given is that they love their dog, not the stranger. I realized two things as a result of this answer. One was that we are living in what I long ago labelled The Age of Feelings. Feelings have replaced values as the guide to people's behavior. The other realization was that, as a result of society increasingly abandoning Judeo-Christian -- i.e., Bible-based -- values, the premise that humans are special because only they are created "in the image of God" has diminished. Secular society has no basis on which to declare humans inherently more valuable than animals, especially an animal one loves.
In addition, I have been troubled by the many people who announce that they do not want children -- and then refer to their dogs or cats as their "children."
Concern No. 2: While it is well known that people who are cruel to animals are very likely to be cruel to human beings, the converse is not true: Kindness to animals does not necessarily lead to kindness to humans. The Nazis provided a horrible confirmation. No Western nation was as preoccupied with animal rights as was Nazi Germany. In fact, the Nazi regime banned medical experimentation on animals. Yet it performed hideous experiments -- without anesthesia -- on human beings.
And you don't need the Nazi regime for proof. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is so preoccupied with animal rights that it opposes killing a pig even if its heart valve could save a human being. And it compares the barbecuing of chickens with the Nazis' cremating of Jews.
I believe these concerns are still valid.
But so long as people do not deny the innately greater worth of the human being and do not equate animals with humans, I have come to regard the love of pets as something beautiful. Given the extraordinary bond between people and dogs (and often cats, but I will focus on dogs), I now entertain the belief that God created dogs for people.
My wife and I love our children with the love that all normal parents have -- and nothing is like a parent's love of a child. Even as we search for another English bulldog to help fill the vacuum left by Otto's passing, we are well aware that no one searches for another child if one's child dies. As much as we love our dogs -- a love that is genuine and deep -- we know we can get another dog, but we can never get another human being after the loss of a child or any other human being.
A dog provides genuine companionship. For that reason, every widow or widower who can take care of a dog -- in fact, any person who lives alone -- should consider adopting a dog. The many studies showing that people who have a dog live longer are undoubtedly correct.
My wife and I are not alone. We have each other -- as well as children, grandchildren and precious friends. But only those who own a dog know how much a dog (or, ideally, two dogs, since every dog should have a companion for when no human is present) adds to a home. They are life-enhancers. And when they leave, some life gets sucked out of any home, even those filled with people.
The Hebrew word for "dog" is "kelev." As Hebrew has no vowels, the word is actually spelled "klv." Those three letters can also be seen as a contraction of "kol lev," understood to mean "wholehearted." It may be coincidental. But I no longer think so.
Well, I’m sorry for your loss, Dennis.
Reflections on the death of a bulldog.
Very well written.
Condolences. I know what loved family members pets can become. Losing one is like losing a child.
That is quite old for a bulldog, though. They have a lot of chronic health conditions.
Such a painful part of life. Pets are family.
See you at the Rainbow Bridge Otto. I lost one 14 years ago and it damn near killed me. Still hurts. The Bridge is only hope. So sorry Dennis.
We lost our beloved Nesmo and Maxie two yrs apart..they will always be family..now we have Simmie a Husky, great dog we love him so much..cant imagine our lives without our fur babies
“The more people I know, the more I like my dog.”
So very sorry. My sweet Lab, Lucy, is terminal. I’ll be where you are within a couple months at most
Awwww.....so sorry to hear about the passing of Otto. May he RIP. Being an English Bulldog owner for over 30 years now, I know how Dennis feels. I hope all those wonderful years full of memories help to fill his heart with smiles as he thinks back on them.
I wish him luck finding a new pup to make new memories with. Having had many breeds over the years, until you spend your time with an English Bulldog, you don’t understand the connection you get from them. There really is something very special about this breed. They are like having a perpetual 2 year old who constantly steals your heart and makes you smile every single day. And I hope Dennis gets that special bond once again with a new pup.
Nah. Dogs are special. They have served man for thousands of years. A pack animal like no other because of thousands of years of socialization and working with man.
” it is well known that people who are cruel to animals are very likely to be cruel to human beings”
This is not true (according to crime statistics) but shows the reach of “animal rights” activist propaganda. It is also one of the things that dehumanizes people. The big excuse to make felons out of people who are cruel to animals is that it is a form of pre-crime prevention.
Dogs make man happy as their best friend. God wants man to be happy, so he allows dogs into Heaven............probably not cats though.
Praeger always writes excellent, insightful, warm essays.
He wrote “I have been troubled by the many people who announce that they do not want children — and then refer to their dogs or cats as their ‘children.’”
I agree with him wholeheartedly. On a related note, I am REALLY put off by the massive increase in the use of the term “fur babies” the past ten years to describe pets. Our local NextDoor app posts are chock full of “fur baby” usages. Ugh.
I have been through the loss of dogs many times. I like to have dogs of different ages so that when one passes I have a younger one to soften the blow. And no they do not replace children. I am not a “pet parent”.
I like dogs a helluva lot better than I like a lot of humans.
Sorry for your loss. These beings are special. We had six companions since we retired from the Corps. Unfortunately, two were “lost” on the highway. A beautiful rescue German Shepherd up and disappeared. And other, a Corky rescue, somehow got destroyed in our woods along the river at the back of our home. I have looked them all in the eyes… there something there. A spark of Unconditional Love! “If there are no dogs in Heaven then I want to go where they went.” - Will Rogers.
The Hebrew word for "dog" is "kelev." As Hebrew has no vowels, the word is actually spelled "klv." Those three letters can also be seen as a contraction of "kol lev," understood to mean "wholehearted." It may be coincidental. But I no longer think so.
And of the Exodus generation it was Caleb ("dog") of the tribe of Judah, and Joshua ("Yah[weh] is salvation") of the tribe of Ephraim who entered the Promised Land.
Our cats are our “grandchildren” because we will never have real grandchildren.
It’s rather toungue-in-cheek, but we do love them.
So many in this nation have their priorities mixed up. Sorry your dig died.
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