I have to be honest with you all . . . I have the best job on the planet.  I get to write about animals, talk to people about animals, learn about animal issues and read all the animal related news for stories that I think you will want to read.   Doesn’t that sound like the coolest way to spend everyday?  I think so too . . . except for earlier this morning.  This morning I found myself absolutely dismayed by the sheer number of animal cruelty stories in the news.  I’m won’t talk about details.  One of the goals I had for this blog when I started it was to write about things that would make people smile, and if something wasn’t uplifting then it had to be a really major news story to make it as a post.  Normally I don’t have a problem picking and choosing what to cover during the week.  Some days I’m lucky enough to write about a couple of different happy, positive stories in the animal world.

Except today in three different sources I read a total of five cases of animal cruelty.

Maybe you can understand why I was feeling as though I’ve swallowed a stone.  Maybe you’d feel the same way.

I would like to think that news outlets are just covering more of these stories and it isn’t some bizarre trend that is picking up steam.  I read these stories and wonder why.  How could a person be wired so horribly wrong that they take their aggressions out on a living creature that is utterly dependent on man for its survival?  The heck is going on with people???

Then I ran across the following story that turned everything around for me. . .

Not our shooter but certainly dressed for the occasion

In Merced County, a 53 year-old man was hunting with his black Labrador in a duck blind.  The man left the duck blind to get some decoys.  Before exiting the blind, he set down his shotgun.  The female Lab stepped on the shotgun and released the safety and caused the gun to go off.  The hunter who was in the process of retrieving the decoys was described as surprised when No. 2 shot became lodged in his upper left back — as you’d be if  your dog had just shot you . . . in the back.  The hunter was taken to the hospital for treatment and released the same day.

One story of man-abuse by animal.  Hmm, anyone else see some sort of karmic scale of justice thing here?  I’m also thinking that Labs are a LOT smarter than we give them credit for.  Seriously, have you ever fired a shotgun? It isn’t easy to do even with four fingers and a thumb!!  She managed to get the safety off and pulled the trigger just by standing on it.   In the future that hunter might want to heap on the praise for every successful retrieve.  I’m just sayin’.

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Tigertail Foods’ Flavor of the Month is Strawberry Shortcake — the sweet way to show your dog how much she means to you!

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