This is potentially controversial, I suppose, but I’ll start it out here.
It also might make you a bit sniffly at work.
Re-posting (with the author’s permission) someone else’s letter (from one of my “dog boards”):
Dear Enzo,
I wish you could understand how hard we are all fighting for you, how desperately I wish you could stay. But long before you were born, politicians decided that an entire group of dogs, banded together by their looks alone, must be extinguished. How blatantly unfair it is that politicians have decided that because of the way you look you are too dangerous to stay in Ontario. You already show such promise and have so much potential. In the right hands you could be anything; an agility athlete, an autism dog, a therapy dog, a dog who helps children learn to read. But if you do grow up and become such an ambassador, it will not be within our province. How glad I am that the rest of Canada has opened their hearts to wonderful dogs like you. They are the lucky ones.
I wish you could understand how humans can be so short sighted. We created your kind, we shaped you over years of selective breeding to become the dog you are today; steadfast in your loyalty, generous with your affection, tenacious against dangers, and sadly, in true terrier fashion, sometimes aggressive with other dogs. We created a breed of dog that would fight to the death for our entertainment–a trait which goes against every living beings natural instincts. What other creatures on earth kill for pleasure? Only the ones who have been touched by ignorant, careless, selfish humans. And now, rather than accepting our mistakes, finding a solution to the problem, our politicians have decided your dog aggression will one day cross over into human aggression. Perhaps it’s our guilt, speaking from our subconscience that causes us to think that you could ever be as dangerous to us as we are to you.
And so our politicians refuse to acknowledge that our attempts are creating a vicious dog have failed. That despite being the most scapegoated dog on the earth, you shine with your unwavering devotion, your uninhibited affection. That despite the cruelty, the ignorance and the abuse that you have suffered, the idea that you are a danger to humans is frankly absurd. And yet, fear-mongering politicians have found in you a villain. A danger lurking in the shadows against whom they can introduce legislation and save the day. We created your ancestors to be aggressive towards their own kind, and once we succeeded, we realized our mistake and in response, we’ve started a systematic program of extinction.
Those of us lucky enough to have met you understand the truth, Enzo, and this is why we fight. We remember that our grandparents were often left in the care of your ancestors, the nanny-dogs. We understand that we are more dangerous than you. We have been shown your rock-solid loyalty and have been humbled, knowing that humans have never been capable of such a noble feat. We watched Sgt. Stubby fight along side our soldiers. We fondly recall Petey watching over the Little Rascals.
So when I put you on a plane, little Enzo, it isn’t because I didn’t want you anymore. I did, very much. I see your potential, I know how great you could be. When I put you on a plane, and watch you fly out of this province, it is to save your life. And you will take a little piece of my heart with you, for I understand that while you would never hurt a human, if you were to stay, the humans would surely hurt you.
Love,
Your Foster Mom.
.