What do they mean they are going to a ‘festival of food and drink’ without their dog? I can drink. I can eat. If truth be known, my ideal day involves doing little else than eat and drink, but no I don’t get to sample the real ales. I said I didn’t mind skipping the alcohol if it would give me more time at the meat stalls. Sadly that didn’t seem to be an option. I even tried asking whether there might be a dog show as part of it and volunteered to do everything on command as long as I could enjoy all the stalls afterwards. Unfortunately my record of obedience didn’t stand in my favour to be believable.
I have been made aware of the fact that not all dogs that are on the streets are out there because they have got lost. Some are out there because they have fallen on hard times. For some they have been forced out of their homes and for others they have run away to avoid abuse. In fact it seems in some places there are whole subcultures of dogs living on the streets, scavenging food and drink and doing without home comforts. For some it has become a way of life, not exactly a lifestyle choice but something they have been born into and compared with that they know no other way of life. I did wonder whether I should set up a mission to take soup out to them on cold nights and blankets to snuggle up in. I know there are charities to help the homeless humans but what about the homeless dogs? It shouldn’t just be a case of rounding them up and sending them off to a pound, these dogs need help. Some of them may need counselling to help them overcome the difficulties they have faced in life. Yet again I find there is more work for the Pet Dogs Democratic Party than I would have realised when I set it up.