A Dog Scared to Death of Everyone Just Needed a Hug - The Most Beautiful Video

[jsmirman]

68. God bless you, God bless you, God bless you

thank you so much for writing in this forum.

As someone who volunteered for a significant stretch at a shelter in New York before I moved to go to law school that video both destroyed my heart and gave it hope.

I was moved to tears by the video, and they lasted quite a while.

Thank you, also, for responding to the concept that was put forth in the post you responded to.

I have one thing important to say from my time working with animals and in a shelter - I have yet to find an animal who did not have a wonderful thing inside them that can be reached by someone with compassion, patience, and a calming presence and kind hand. I was scared of working with one cat at our shelter. I'd put on gloves to do things with her space because she could be pretty rough with her claws. I am kind of a cat whisperer - they know I am a friend, and they mostly instinctively trust me. But Purty was having none of that. A few months after I moved to DC, I heard she was adopted. It turns out she was a great cat. She just could handle being around all the other cats. How about that.

The endless numbers of animals that are "put down" is heartbreaking - I mean that in a real way, as in, if I couldn't find some way to not think of it all the time, the weight would be too crushing for me to do anything - ever - and the justification for this practice is linked to public health. But if we, as a society are going to do this, the inhumane, cold, terrifying, you never get a chance, and before we kill you, we're going to scare the crap out of you, make you suffer, and then die alone - I seriously have to question the humanity of the society that does this. It's just not right.

But back to you, what you did, and the video - you have a kindness in your heart that gives others hope. And that is a wonderful thing.