Dogs are loving companions and should be treated as such

Today I watched a story on the news about an American service dog being flown to England to receive the Dickin charity medal. He had served in Afghanistan and was caught in a bomb blast, lost a leg and suffered severe chest burns. His handler stayed with him during his surgery and recovery because the dog had saved him on more than one occasion. Why? Because Lucca was shown love and loyalty during his training, but flying him to England for a medal is extreme, why not give him a treat, a whole lot of love and let him retire to the couch, he would be worn out and deserving of the rest and relaxation. I doubt he would give a toss about the medal.

Then on my Facebook feed came the stories of humans treating dogs horrendously, one disgusting specimen of the human race taped a dog’s mouth shut and chained him to a rock to die in a creek bed, another had stabbed a beautiful dog 17 times, the cruelty some people display is beyond comprehension. If you don’t want the dog, find him a home or take him to a shelter, and for God’s sake don’t hurt them, after all if treated humanely they show nothing but love and loyalty.

Respect to the people of Nepal they have a five day Tihar Festval to honour not just the Gods but also crows, cows and dogs, and the intense relationship they maintain with humans. The dogs look relaxed, happy and well fed.

The sub humans that torture, skin and cook dogs alive then eat them at the Yulin Dog Festival need to be held to account, that is no festival it is a slaughter. The pictures show the dogs are full of fear and absolute terror, dozens of dogs are rammed into tiny makeshift cages watching others being slaughtered in filthy conditions in front of them. Dogs are not stupid they know they are going to suffer the same fate.

Kerala, India has passed a resolution to sell their stray dogs to China so they can be eaten by the locals, why not put the dogs to sleep humanely?The slaughter is on again this year, during the Yulin 2015 festival over 10,000 dogs and cats were slaughtered and many were stolen from loving homes. It’s wrong on so many levels. I hope the creatures that participate in this disgusting event all get violently ill.

Dogs are the only creatures that love you more than they love themselves, they will protect your home and your family. They are highly intelligent you only have to watch Guide Dogs, Police Dogs and Sniffer Dogs to realise that. I write this as my tiny old girl is laying on her new bed with her eyes firmly glued to my every movement, even she was abused as a puppy and I still have to be very careful the way I pick her up. Just so she remains confident that she is in safe hands. The extremes of cruelty displayed by some of the human race is disturbing to say the least.

Do you have a dog?

To write for Starts at 60 and potentially win a $20 voucher, send your articles to our Community Editor here.