Gob wrote:Barney is a fine dog, we took him from a pound and gave him a good life. We've known for some time that his health was failing, and his once unquenchable thirst for walks was now becoming diminished, and he was spending most of his days just sleeping.
I hope he hangs about long enough for me to see him before he goes.
I remember you mentioning in a post a while ago about his advancing years and failing health. I can't remember what exactly you were saying or what the topic was about, but I remember that your comment hit a chord with me because ( apart from my general caring about animals and general, but genuine, sorrow when creatures who have been dear and trusted friends reach that stage in their life) I also have a dog who is in his advancing years and in poor health, and who's time is nearly over. So I felt, and feel, a particular empathy. I actually shed a little tear when I read about
Jarlaxe's dog and am shedding a tear now, for the same reasons,
I hope that made sense - I was only on the computer for a short while and was quickly visiting the site, but felt compelled to log in and try to add to the warm wishes being passed to you.
I too, hope that he is able to last at the very least the 58 hours (or 56, or whatever it may be by now) that will enable you to be with him. And I hope that his eventual passing is gentle and pain free.
I'm so sorry for you.
Lord Jim wrote:BSG, at first I didn't get the point of your post...
Then I noticed that tiny print....
LoCa, I realize there's a lot of ill will involved, but was it really necessary to take the occasion of an exchange about a dying pet to take a shot?
Same here - it took
BSG's and then
Timster's posts for me to look back and notice the fine print.
loCAtek wrote:Thank ye Barnum, your life was inspiring to us all.
Yer owners won't care, but fork'em...
(copied without reducing the size of the last line)
I don't understand why on earth you would write a comment like that,
loCAtek.
I know you people have had your differences and I have not been involved in opinions one way or another up until now. But that was a cruel and heartless comment and was just very wrong.
It would be an awful comment to make at any time. If Barnum was young and healthy it would still be a nasty barb to make, but given the personal attacks you people have made at each other it would be perhaps ignorable as 'just another unfounded attack'.
And it would not take anyone a lot of reviewing back across the Plan B or old CSB forums to see that those words were unfounded - without any basis whatsoever. Barnum's owners have often made comments on their life with their pets - they've often written about the many, many walks they enjoyed and various funny but affectionate moments, and the inevitable times when medical care was required and this was arranged and done with the same duty, concern and care that any person has for any family member.
And there have been many threads over the years that have touched on some level of animal cruelty or perceptions of cruelty, or any animal behaviour or people's behaviour toward animals that may be cause for debate etc etc ... and
The Hen and
Gob have consistently jumped in and very vocally portrayed views strongly - very strongly - indicating their absolute distaste of anyone who does any action they feel is not treating animals kindly and humanely. These very, very strong views are not opinions that would be expressed by anyone who would not care for their own animals. People who are compassionate toward animals in general will of course have compassion and caring for their own pets - it seems an obvious and logical conclusion.
Whatever other issues you or anyone else may have with
The Hen and
Gob, now or anytime in the past, an attack based on their level of care for their pets would be usually be as ridiculous and laughable as an attack based on their level of caring for their daughter.
But to make such an attack at a time when it has just been announced that Barnum is critically ill and his owners are on the other side of the world desperately hoping they will get home in time for that one last farewell ... I'm in tears again just thinking of what they must be going through. Your words are beyond thoughtless, beyond uncaring, beyond nasty. It's just so terribly, terribly wrong that you would make that sort of comment at a time like this. There is no apology you could make that would make your words any less awful, or any less cruel and pettily, bitterly, vindictive .