disillusionment

It's easy to become disillusioned. Just watch the news and read the paper. Sometimes, though, when you think there are other human beings who feel the same way as you and you discover that you totally misjudged them, the disillusionment is overwhelming.

I belonged to a message board that is supposed to advocate for animals. Perhaps they think that's what they do. The realization that I was out of synch with them came when posts were made rationalizing the fact that a dog was living next to a highway exit and that it was okay because she has an insulated dog house, she has people who stop at their convenience to feed her, and she had "chosen" that life. As one enlightened person posted, her dogs don't make very good decisions. There seems to be no concern about the dangers involved in that dog's solitary life, tick-borne diseases, heartworm, rabies, and being injured by a car. Left out in the elements, eventually to die alone.

Somehow there seems to be a difference between chaining an elephant and chaining a dog. The opinion is that some dogs prefer being chained to being indoors. There also seems to be a difference between beating an elephant and physically punishing dogs and cats. Oh, and pigs. Rescue pigs who were kept as pets in a house for years and now are living in a barn, with a replacement dog on tap. No concern for the pigs, whose lives are undergoing a drastic change. There are even people using shock collars on their dogs!

If I can't count on people who bill themselves as animal advocates, who in the hell can I count on? Unfortunately, I know the answer.