I hate traveling.  Mostly it’s because I hate flying.  But there’s another reason as well.  Through the ‘magic’ of Facebook, and the era of ‘instant’ media we live in, I hear a lot about how animals are (mis)treated in other areas of the country/world.  While I know all of my readers are wonderful pet owners no matter where you live, I’m biased about certain areas of the country and one of those areas is the south.

And last week I went to Florida.

Overheard at a children’s party:

Two women were discussing their dogs and how one woman’s (woman #1) son had questioned the other woman (woman #2) about her dog.  Turns out they both had the same breed of dog.  A blue nosed pit.

Woman #1 pulled up a picture of her dog on her phone and woman #2 immediately asked, “Is she spayed?”

Woman #1 responded, “Yes, we got her from the pound.”

Disappointed woman #2 responded that her dog was male, and still a puppy.

And in my mind, I immediately jumped to, she wants to breed that dog.  She’s a back yard breeder who wants to make money from her dog.

See, I told you I was biased.

How do you stop yourself from jumping to that conclusion?

Sometimes the universe provides the answer.

On that same trip, I was visiting with some friends (who are wonderful, responsible pet owners) where I was introduced to and fell in love with Bailey.

Bailey is about five years old.  Until recently she lived on an 80 acre farm where she hunted armadillos, snakes, and many other types of small game.  Sadly she was also unprotected from fleas, ticks and mosquitoes.

When my friends rescued Bailey from a relative of theirs, she was covered in fleas and ticks, and she had heart worm and tape worms as well.  I’m sure you all know that dogs and cats with fleas can easily become infected with tape worms.

My friends treated Bailey for the fleas, ticks and worms and gave her a good home, where she is spoiled rotten.

A real “Daddy’s Girl” Bailey is so attached to her Dad that when he was in the hospital recently, she ran through the house searching for him.  Trying to help Bailey feel safe, the mom held the phone up to her ear so she could hear Daddy, but instead of helping, it left Bailey running around the house, crying and searching for her dad.

Thankfully my friend is home and all is right in Bailey’s world once again.

Meet Bailey.

My friends also found a feral cat and her kittens, nursed them, found homes for all of them and had the mama spayed.

It is people like my friends and others like them, that help restore my faith in humanity.