I’m late with this week’s blog due to the round-the-clock care my dog, Serena, requires.  A serious eye injury and infection has required numerous medical procedures which have not (yet?) worked to heal her.

We’ve only had this old girl a few years but have all come to love her.  She’s the only pet I haven’t raised from kitten or puppyhood and this experience has been a totally unique one for me.

Her history, past medical problems, age, etc. are all mysteries.  Vets guess her to be about 10 and her behaviors and fears lead me to believe she has endured an unhappy life of neglect and abuse.

Integrating Serena into a family that included a 5 year old, still puppy-like collie and an imperious cat was not easy.  But, she worked hard to fit-in and things eventually clicked.  (That is, until we adopted a new, 7 week old kitten.  Then it was back to square one).

While I certainly didn’t make an imprint on or influence Serena’s developing personality, there were no surprises regarding who she would eventually “become.”  She was given her name because, compared to our Odin, she was, indeed, “serene.”  Happily, there was no house training or puppy-mischief to worry about.

For sure, this dog had never been indulged.  She needed to be taught to play with a tennis ball, that quality dog food was more appropriate and nutritious than table scraps, and that her “place” was with the rest of the family rather than alone in the yard or bathroom–where she self-isolated during her 1st few months with us.

Because she apparently lived such an uneventful and isolated life previously, our old girl savors every experience and kindness with puppy-like zest and appreciation.  All it takes is a soft voice, a hug, or singing a song with her name in it to cause her to close her eyes, smile a crooked little smile, and make a throaty–almost purring–sound of contentment.

Her greatest delights are car rides, taking a walk in the woods, and rolling around in the grass with her very own ball in her mouth.  When we bought her a bed, she seemed to think she would get into trouble by climbing into it.  So, for days, she would eye it longingly, but sleep on the floor beside it, instead.  Finally, our coaxing paid off and she now rolls around and stretches out in delight when she beds-down on her own, soft sleeping space each night.

She treasures and parades around with her rawhide bones; and treats–well, an after dinner Greenie or biscuit sends her into a state of ecstasy. Odin has taught her to not be afraid of toys that make noise, and she eventually began to enjoy and share her playthings rather than hoard them.

While I don’t regret raising and nurturing any one of my past or current animal companions from infancy onward, Serena has opened my eyes and my heart to the joys of sharing life with a pet that has a history, but chooses to give herself to you, anyway.  I dread the thought of losing my beloved Odin, Lily, Serena, or Chance.  But, should the time come when we again find ourselves “empty nesters,” instead of living out our later years devoid of animal companionship, we will look for a pet to adopt that is closer to us in age, energy level, and life expectancy.  Thanks to sweet Serena.

Last weekend,” I’ll Have Another,” winner of the Kentucky Derby & Preakness, was pulled from running at Belmont due to a leg injury.  Had he competed and won, he would have been the first Triple Crown champion in 34 years.

I applaud this colt’s owners for making the moral, compassionate decision on his behalf.  Many others have not been so fortunate.

It was disturbing to read responses to this honorable decision, however.  The following sentiment, expressed by the last Triple Crown winner’s jockey, Steve Cauthen, pretty much sums it up: “I think the whole racing world is just dying to have another great horse come along and capture their hearts.” (www.washingtonpost.com/sports)

Never mind that I’ll Have Another won the Kentucky Derby over 15-1 odds and, 2 weeks later, won the Preakness Stakes.  I guess that wasn’t enough to capture any hearts.  It seems the only colts who give enough to satisfy racing fans are those who die, themselves, in order to do so: Like the rare filly, Eight Belles, who finished 2nd in the Kentucky Derby but was injured and euthanized right after her finish; or, the “much loved” Barbaro who , after being injured during the Preakness, suffered with his injuries for eight long months before finally being put out of his misery.

Greyhounds used to entertain dog racing patrons don’t fare any better.  Essentially, they live a hard, isolated existence, brought out of their pens only long enough to run.  Then, when they begin to slow down– if not rescued almost immediately– are unsympathetically euthanized.

Using animals for our needs, entertainment, and financial gain is by no means limited to the racing industry.  Since the beginning of mankind’s occupation of this planet, we have been using; abusing; eating; killing for sport, hides, fur, pretty feathers, wall mountings, ivory tusks; imprisoning and training for our amusement; racing until they drop; and, now, destroying the habitat of the animal kingdom.

We do this without conscience and with a sense of absolute “entitlement,” referring to the Book of Genesis when our morality and ethics are called into question.

I don’t know what kind of self-delusion allows mankind to perceive itself as superior to the rest of Creation. Our history certainly doesn’t provide evidence to support this point-of-view.  As a species we have wreaked more destruction on the planet, other species, and our own kind than any other living creature.

Why not spend a week really looking around, listening to the news, observing the attitudes and activities of your fellow- man as a visitor from another planet would?  Emotional distance and objectivity provide the clarity and perspective unconscious immersion lacks.  In sociological terms, this is called being a “participant observer.”

Maybe if we were all schooled in this capacity, instead of “100 ways to feel good about ourselves,” the world would become a better place–for all it’s inhabitants.