Hamish - A Dog with a tale......
In Cambridge Mass. this year, whilst
visiting our nephew Tim, his wife Allie, and children Binnie and Bronwyn, we
met for the first time their (75%) Labrador, Hamish. He is no longer in the first flush of youth,
a little grey around the muzzle, but no one can tell us how old he is as he is
a rescue dog. Not so unusual (and of
course most of our UK canine friends are rescues) but this is a little more
unusual in Massachusetts. First of all
Massachusetts has quarantine regulations and out of State dogs are just not
welcome. Also most Massachusettians are kind to their dogs and very few are offered for adoption.
On the other hand, down in Louisiana, if
you move home (or just move on) some people just leave their canine friends
behind with their old unwanted lives.
There is an efficient dog collection service which rounds them up and
accommodates them in a sort of 'Dog Death Row' where they wait for up to fourteen
days, their paws already shaved for where the electrodes are to be attached.
Now fortunately there is a dedicated dog
friend down there who has set up a kind of dating service to contact the lonely
humans in New England ….. 'Brown eyes; early stage halitosis only; already castrated; GSOH; etc; etc.' Once photos have been exchanged, up to twenty
dogs are liberated and placed in a van to be taken north. Stopping only for regular toilet breaks they
drive on until rendezvous is eventually achieved at a secret location, probably
in a Supermarket car park somewhere in New Hampshire. The dogs are introduced
to their delighted new owners who take them home to somewhere near the cradle
of American Independence. Our friend
makes the lonely journey back stopping only for his own toilet breaks until he
arrives home to hose out the back of his van.
The whole process then begins again in preparation for the next trip.
So Hamish is a very fortunate dog indeed,
even though he still suffers a crisis of confidence every time he sees someone
packing a suitcase. These days he
realises this is just a short family vacation to which he is always invited.
Authors note: I have been asked to point out that in the
USA dogs and other pets are euthanased by lethal injection, just as they are in
the UK.
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