Every time I lose a pet I ask myself the same question: Why do we keep bringing these animals into our homes when we always outlive them? When you decide to take an animal into your house, you know it's going to end with suffering. Nothing in life is permanent, and the lives of animals are significantly less permanent than our lives. Unless you adopt a tortoise, your loved one will leave you, sometimes without warning and never when you want them to.
And while they're with us, they shit on the floor, make a lot of noise, and require constant care and attention. Hardly seems worth it.
We wonder: would they rather be free? Open to roam in their natural habitat, to be wild, and carefree?
Would they thrive in the wild? Sure they would - they have an inner strength that allows them to persevere under whatever conditions they find themselves. All animals do - it's survival instinct. They are trained hunters, foragers; they don't need us to feed them or bath them or keep them warm and dry - they have a built-in ability to care for themselves.
But there's something I've learned from my pets, something that they know deep down inside and don't have to be taught. And that is the value of companionship, which is something brings us one step up from simply surviving from day to day - allowing us to live fully.
My dogs rejoice when they see me - they jump on me, ask to be held, kiss my face, and then settle down in my arms - never wanting to be too far away from me as long as I am there. When I leave they wait for me by the door to return, eventually going back to their daily routine when I don't. It's not that they need me to come back to them - it's that they want me to, they enjoy giving me love, and enjoy the love I give them. They are simply happy to have me in their life.
Right now, I choose to live without the companionship of pets, life is much simpler and easier - I don't want the responsibility of having to be here daily to feed them and let them out to crap - I want to be able to take off for a weekend whenever I feel like it.
But doing so is giving up the joys of that particular blend of companionship (not to be confused with human companionship, which is an entirely different animal), and that's not something that I necessarily want to live without forever.
From time to time we have our backyard funerals. Fish are flushed down drains, cat and dogs cremated and put on the mantle. The more we love a companion the more it hurts when we lose them, but we continue to love because it's an important part of fully enjoying life.
Goodbye Nikki, Athena, Lunatic, Wendy, Hook, Teddy, William, Kai, Mark and Mike, and Andy. You were all good companions, and I thank you for that.
