Sunday, November 30, 2008

Vulnerable


I love riding my scooter. It can be a time of joy and praise. It can even be a time of quiet meditation. Usually, I sing to myself while riding on the 10 freeway, to work and back. Sometimes I pray. Sometimes, I simply pray that more animals are placed in loving and protective homes so that we'll see fewer of them on the freeway.

Maybe it's a measure of how good my life is, but I become very sad when I see a dead dog or cat on the freeway, even the ones that are still in one piece and look as if they're sleeping peacefully. I try to focus on the fact that their pain and fear are already over.

And I pray that the end came as swiftly as possible for them.

When I see objects on the road that I'm quickly approaching, I'll pray, "Please don't be dog, please don't be a dog." I'm always relieved and grateful whenever it turns out to be an old jacket, or some tire tread, or a rumpled blanket.

Last month, I saw a dog resting on the shoulder of the carpool lane. It was obviously still alive. It was also four or five lanes across from the nearest freeway exit. I immediately pulled over into a safe parking spot for my small bike. I couldn't believe that no other vehicles were pulling over after seeing the dog. I couldn't just continue on my way to work and leave a live animal to risk its life. I couldn't just not worry about the poor creature.

Risky as I knew it was, I walked over to the dog carefully, hugging the shoulder. The poor thing was resting against the wall of a merging ramp and I wanted to make sure not to scare it right into oncoming traffic. The dog was not happy to see me. It ran further up the shoulder and tried to hop the small wall, over into the Metro Link train tracks.

One of its hind legs was bleeding, not a lot, but obviously the dog had been hit. I was glad that the injury probably - ironically - kept the dog from jumping over into the tracks.

I saw that the dog was wearing a collar with license tags. It looked healthy, so it was probably some one's pet that had gotten lost. I got close enough to hold out a fist for the dog to sniff, but it snapped at me. The dog was probably in pain, and very frightened. I didn't blame it for snapping.

A tow truck pulled up close to where my scooter was parked. A bus in the carpool lane slowed down, and the lady bus driver told me that she had called for the police to come and help. Thank God for mobile phones! (I had mine - why didn't I think to dial 911?)

The police arrived almost immediately. After swerving back and forth to slow and stop traffic, they parked in the middle of the freeway. They brought out one of those metal poles with a wire noose, which the dog let them slip onto its neck without a struggle.

I was beyond relieved that the dog was taken safely off of the freeway, no matter where it may have ended up. At least the dog would not have to suffer a painful and fearful death. Still, I was crying when I got back onto my scooter, and safely back into the car pool lane.

The poor dog was so damn vulnerable, and it made me feel vulnerable.

Whenever I see a dead animal on the freeway, I think, That could be me. I am that animal, small and vulnerable on my scooter. Or I could be.

When I was about seven or eight, I actually spent time feeling sorry for homeless dogs and cats. When I was older, my mother said it was probably because I felt emotionally abandoned by my father, even though he was always present, physically.

I am that animal. I didn't feel loved and protected enough from my father's anger and his emotional damage while growing up.

And that's probably why I adopt dogs from a rescue group or shelter. It's why we took in a four week kitten, last year, that had been abandoned on our roof. It's why I'll take in hamsters when our cat brings them to us, half alive, and give them a plastic home from Petco instead of turning them loose again in our backyard.

And it's why I stopped on the side of the freeway for a dog that was still alive, foolish as it may be to leave my vehicle and walk so close to traffic.

Fortunately, that had happened on Veteran's Day-Monday. Traffic was much lighter than usual. Had it not been a holiday, I probably would have driven by another dead dog. It took me almost the rest of the week to stop feeling so shaky and vulnerable. I wasn't able to blog about it right away.

Thanks to Mike Valentino for inspiring this post with one of his own.

15 comments:

Michael DeAntonio said...

That makes me tear up. God bless you for caring about the helpless creatures of this world. Ghandi once said "You can judge the progress of a society by the way they treat their animals".

SleepingBeauty said...

You're so caring... bless you :)

Lori said...

We almost hit a dog the other day. Brian was Driving and he didn't see it until I screamed out,"Dog!" We stopped just in time and the dog continued on his marry way. I wanted to stop and see if he had any tags but Brian was sure the dog must live somewhere close and would find it's own way. He probably right and we continued on but had it been just me in the car I would have stopped.

mr jp said...

your cat brings back hamsters ? that's kinda cool ..

adopting dogs is pretty noble too, if u ask me.

I've been thiking about sponsoring a child from WorldVision ...

see if i can take of someone other than myseflf :)

golfwidow said...

My dad always carried two snow shovels: one full-sized, one child-sized, in the trunk of his car.

This one morning, we were riding somewhere together and spotted an injured squirrel trying to limp off the road. My dad stopped the car, brought the child-sized shovel out from the trunk, and used it to carry the squirrel to safety, where it made it back into the woods.

I said, "I thought that was for snow."

He said, "The big shovel is for snow."

the Constantly Dramatic One said...

Awww, this is such a wonderful post. Thank you for caring =)

Cheryl said...

I am so glad you are you, Peter. I've lived in several neighborhoods with a lot of strays, and I feel like I'm always making decisions about which rescues to pursue. I've called animal control a bunch of times, chased a dog or two and helped one find a home. But more often than I'm proud of, I've done nothing and hoped they don't cross paths with a car or a coyote (and I worry about coyotes as well--they need to eat too).

Golfwidow, I love your dad. Living in L.A. as I do, I would have associated shovels in trunks with burying (human) bodies. But now I know they're for squirrel rescue. My faith in humanity is restored.

Peter Varvel said...

MV, YOU make me tear up.
SB, thank you. "Pay it forward!"
L, we are soul mates when it comes to animals. <3
JP, I want to sponsor a child, too!
Thanks for the reminder.
GW, I had the same thought Cheryl did about the big shovel . . . at first.
TCDO, sorry there's not much drama when it comes to us Bleeding Hearts, LOL.
C, I know. It isn't realistic to rescue every needy animal out there, even though we want to.

Unknown said...

Yeah...you care for the animals, bring them home and then you and domestic partner have a fun time screwing them right? Fag!Gosh, I worry about the children and animals around you people

Peter Varvel said...

Hi, Kevin! I missed you!
M'WAH!

Unknown said...

Shit fag...don't be blowin kisses at me...you damn dog.Your pee pee must be reeking of stinky ass eh? FAG!!!!Homos belong in the gas chamber. There should be another Hitler movement...this time on Fags =)

Peter Varvel said...

Hey, Kevin, are you Canadian?
The 'eh?' makes me wonder . . .

Unknown said...

Btw....if i see a dead dog and a dead fag side by side dying on the freeway...I would stop and pick up the dog...but will gladly run over the fag to my heart's content

Peter Varvel said...

Poor, angry, homophobic Kevin.
You need more kisses, "eh?"
Here: M'wah, muwah, and uh-M'WAH!
=)

movindowntheroad said...

wow. WOW. The dog bit got me all choked up., My kids were extremely upset recently when they passed an accident where a cow was hit by a truck. It was really sad. I hate seeing dogs hit too. The other day four people were standing on the side of one of our side roads with a tarp to protect/shield a very hurt dog, from traffic and rain. You don't see this sort of thing every day. Good job! (is that picture you or from somewhere else?)

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