In their eyes
Writing by treason on Monday, 29 of May , 2006 at 2:59 pm
I’ve always had sort of a love-hate relationship with “hippie communities.” They held a certain fascination for me when I was young, but even then I sensed there was some underlying…something.
In the sixties we lived in Rogers Park in Chicago, between Northwestern and Loyola University. Not only were there head shops across the street from our building, there was one in our building. In the seventies, in California, the communities were plentiful. I was eleven when I went to the Renaissance Faire, and liked the many “artsy” communities that stretched from Monterey to Eureka. I’ve always had access to these places.
But then I attended a university in one of those artsy little communities. Wasn’t just passing through to look at trinkets and hand-painted stash boxes. Had to live there. My infatuation soon waned. I thought about this when I was in such a community on Sunday. A friend wanted me to see a production she was involved in, so I spent a good part of the day in a small mountainous area that used to be a mining town.
On the surface it looks like most of these out of the way artsy villages, but there’s just something about it that I couldn’t stop thinking about. You know when you’re watching something like V, and on the surface everything seems friendly enough, but then you discover that those around you are really big lizard creatures from another planet who want you for dinner? Or maybe The Devil’s Advocate, where all seems benign until you discover that all the people around you are grotesque demons from hell? Or maybe Rosemary’s Baby, where…well, you get the idea.
I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something so creepy and perverse - so sinister - that I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there. I made up my mind that I didn’t intend to go back.
I can’t explain it. It’s this underlying…evil. Maybe evil is too strong a word. There’s an unwholesomeness. Yes, that’s it. An unwholesomeness.
There are these dogs. They’re everywhere. Communities like these always have dogs. Usually they’re Labs or shepherd mixes and they all wear bandannas. They have names like Jericho and Shasta. But these dogs this past Sunday were different. I’ve actually seen some of them before, but this time they looked different. Most had no collars or even bandannas. Some didn’t seem to be with any humans - they were just there. They scratched themselves. Some had abscesses, and some limped. One old one who’s a fixture at the museum was slow to respond to me. There were kids who wanted to pet the dog and a woman advised against it. “She doesn’t want to be petted. She’ll snap.”
I petted her. Something, though, was different about her - she wasn’t really…conversing, if you know what I mean. And then I noticed her left eye. I won’t describe it, but it was unpleasant. I stayed with her awhile, and talked to her. Told her she was a sweet and good dog and that it was nice to see her again. She moved towards me and let me rub her under the chin.
I saw many dogs, none on leashes. Traffic can be heavy on the main road and the dogs could easily have been struck by cars. Some hid under porches and stairwells. One stayed behind a pile of rubble and looked nervous when I said, “Hey - you’re a good-looking dog!” Maybe he didn’t believe me. To me, all dogs are attractive because dogs are God’s most perfect creatures, but these dogs are…different. It’s a look. Not the dirty coats or the injuries or the matted fur. It’s something else. An expression. A look. I live to look in a dog’s eyes. I can see ancient souls there. I can see reasons to go on living.
In these dogs’ eyes I see something else. Something I don’t see in my dogs’ eyes. There’s such sadness there. No spark, no glee, no enthusiasm, no light. Just so much sadness. I look at them, I smile, and I speak to them - but I worry that they know I can see it. I smile and say something reassuring, but I can’t be around these dogs for very long. It hurts too much.
The big local controversy has been over a new animal ordinance that the mayor intends to sign into law. Without going into the details, it’s a badly written, poorly thought out piece of legislation that cannot be enforced. Government cannot legislate common sense and decency, responsibility or compassion. How a person interacts with animals is a complex thing. I know people with advanced degrees from respected universities, but because they were raised on a farm, they object to dogs in the house. I liked a particular couple very much, but they were openly opposed to the presence of my dogs. My first impulse was to keep the dogs outside when they visited, but then I realized that I don’t particularly like children, but I would never expect a host to put theirs someplace else just because I was visiting. I made the decision to stop inviting the couple over.
How one treats an animal, how one treats a pet…how one treats a child…is part of a philosophy. Government cannot enforce a philosophy like this. Those who care for animals will continue to obey the laws they’d never break anyway; but others - those whose behavior prompted this legislation - will never change their behaviors. And it will be the animals - those who are supposed to be protected by these new laws - who will suffer.
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