Hounding the headlines: July 10, 2019

Like a Dog

By Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron

SAN DIEGO−I’m the new dog Laurie and Bonnie Baron adopted from a rescue agency.  Since I’m only two, I don’t remember where I was born.  I know I probably had prior owners because I’m house-trained and well-behaved.

Why did I leave?  If I were comfortable there, I’m sure I would have stayed.  Maybe I fled because they were mistreating me or they expelled me because I was pregnant and they didn’t want to raise a litter of puppies.  Whatever the reason I ended wandering the streets of San Diego without a microchip or name tag and seeking sanctuary.

I have traumatic flashbacks to the day when a man in a government uniform arrested me and put me in a van.  He worked for animal control and brought me to a big building with rows and rows of cages where I was separated from my puppies.  I got locked up in a cage with other strays.  We were overcrowded and sleeping on the floor.  Some of my cell mates contracted fleas, kennel cough, and parvo.

I was lucky.  The American Canine Liberation Union came to my rescue confident that I could be a desirable member of a family looking for a dog.  Then the Barons found me.  It was love at first lick.  Suddenly, I was no longer an unwelcome cur, but a loving pet.  I worked hard to please them, and, they showered me with affection, exercise, food, and play.

At nights I curl up on a dog bed and watch television with them.  I hear about human beings searching for a safer life, children being separated from their parents, and all of them being confined in cages whose conditions remind me of the kennel where I was interned.  I angrily start barking at the golden deceiver responsible for these policies.  Although the Barons are not fluent in Barkese, they understand what I’m saying: “Nobody deserves to be treated like a dog.”

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Elona resides with Bonnie and Laurie Baron.  The latter is professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University.  He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com.  No animals were harmed in the writing of this column.