In the past I’ve tended to think there are two kinds of people: those who love animals, and those who don’t.
What’s more, the two kinds of people have difficulty understanding each other. Each tends to say: “What’s wrong with them? I don’t get it!”
Recently, though, I had a revelation. Loving animals may be more circumstantial than my segregation allows. For some of the ‘non-animal’ group, at least, they’re just not around animals enough to know how they feel about them.
A recent event made me reconsider my two-group logic. I got bids on a landscaping job at my country home the other day. One of the workers I interviewed came down from Albuquerque on a Sunday and brought with him his wife and sister-in-law. It was a sunny day and the women wanted to go for a drive “in the country.” While the landscaper and I walked around talking about plans and possibilities, the two women wandered off on their own, introduced themselves to my seven mini-donkeys, four pygmy goats, and two Scotties . . . and giggled and laughed and discovered a joy in animals that surprised them. As the group got into their car to drive home, I heard one of the women say, “Well, I never thought I’d be seeing farm animals up close and personal!”
My conclusion from this? I’m not superior for loving animals. I’m luckier than most to get to live where I share my life and my world with them every day.
This revelation draws me back to a story that has made the rounds in different forms. Readers have likely seen it. But it’s worth circulating again, because it reminds us that heaven, like life, is NOT all about humans. Heaven is where animals count, too.
An old cowboy was riding his trusty horse followed by his faithful dog along an unfamiliar road. The man was enjoying the new scenery, when he suddenly remembered dying, and realized that the dog beside him had been dead for years, as had his horse. Confused, he wondered what was happening, and where the trail was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall that looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch topped by a golden letter “H” that glowed in the sunlight.
Standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like gold.
He rode toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. Parched and tired out by his journey, he called out, ‘Excuse me, where are we?’
‘This is Heaven, Sir,’ the man answered.
‘Wow! Would you happen to have some water?’ the man asked.
‘Of course, sir. Come right in, and I’ll have some ice water brought right up.’
As the gate began to open, the cowboy asked, ‘Can I bring my partners in, too?’
‘I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t accept pets.’
The cowboy thought for a moment, then turned back to the road and continued riding, his dog trotting by his side.
After another long ride, at the top of another hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a ranch gate that looked as if it had never been closed. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.
‘Excuse me,’ he called to the man. ‘Do you have any water?’
‘Sure, there’s a pump right over there. Hep’ yourself.’
‘How about my friends here?’ the traveler gestured to the dog and his horse.
‘Of course!! They look thirsty, too,’ said the man.
The trio went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with buckets beside it. The traveler filled a cup and the buckets with wonderfully cool water and took a long drink, as did his horse and dog.
When they were full, he walked back to the man who was still standing by the tree. ‘What do you call this place?’ the traveler asked.
‘This is Heaven,’ he answered.
‘That’s confusing,’ the traveler said. ‘The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.’
‘Oh, you mean the place with the glitzy, gold streets and fake pearly gates? That’s Hell!!’
‘Doesn’t it make you angry that they use your name in vain?’
‘Not at all. Actually, we’re happy they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind!!’
I, also, have trouble understanding some attitudes towards animals. I belong to a “rescue” group called Petfinders, where they alert all members when a pet is lost in your area so we can be on the lookout for them. When I post the notices, it amazes me how many comments I get “It’s only a dog/cat, they will eventually find their own way home or survive however they can”. I sometimes want to respond asking what if it was their parent/child who was lost and their attitude about the animal was the prevailing attitude about humans. I usually don’t say too much, as I have found, in most cases, it wouldn’t do any good anyway. My Scotties and Westie are, to me, as important as my human family. However, when the same attitude surfaces when a pet dies, that’s when my Irish temper usually kicks in. Call it grief, I call it love and caring for all God’s creatures.
Great story - it even made it into a Twilight Zone Episode - details below. When I take my Scotties for a walk, either as a group or individually, it is remarkable how quickly the dogs can figure out people who don’t like animals. Maybe they smell hatred or stupidity better than a human.
Here is a recap of ‘The Hunt’ (from Wikipedia), probably the greatest Twilight Zone episode ever; and, a caution for each of us when the time arrives.
Hyder Simpson lives with his wife and his hound-dog Rip in the backwoods. Mrs. Simpson does not like having the dog indoors, but Rip saved Hyder’s life once, and Hyder won’t be parted from him. Mrs. Simpson has seen some bad omens recently, and warns Hyder not to go raccoon hunting that night. When Rip dives into a pond after a raccoon, Hyder jumps in after him, but only the raccoon comes up out of the water. Next morning, Hyder and Rip wake up next to the pond. When they return home, Hyder finds that neither his wife, the preacher, nor the neighbors can hear him or see him—they seem to think that he and Rip are dead.
Walking along the road, he encounters a fence he doesn’t recognize, and decides to follow it. Presently, both come to a gate tended by a man. Simpson asks him if he is Saint Peter. Explaining only that he is a gatekeeper, the man explains that Simpson can enter the Elysian Fields.
Simpson is appreciative, but disheartened to hear that there is no raccoon hunting there, nor are there any of his other usual pleasures. When he is told that Rip can’t enter and will be taken elsewhere (”up the road”), he declines and angrily goes on down the “Eternity Road” rather than enter the gate without his beloved dog. Simpson states, “Any place that’s too high-falutin’ for Rip is too fancy for me.” Later, after stopping to rest, Simpson and Rip are met by a young angel whose job is to find and bring them to Heaven.
Simpson tells the angel about his experience at the first gate, commenting “Son, that’d be a helluva place without Rip!” The angel replies “Mr. Simpson, you ain’t far wrong - that is Hell! Heaven’s up yonder a piece,” pointing up Eternity Road. When asked by Simpson why the gatekeeper at the gate to Hades wouldn’t let him bring Rip inside with him, the angel explains that the reason Rip was not allowed in was because the dog would have been able to smell the brimstone and alert Simpson that something was wrong. The angel says, “You see Mr. Simpson, a man, well, he’ll walk right into Hell with both eyes open. But even the Devil can’t fool a dog!”
The angel also tells Hyder that there will be a raccoon hunt in Heaven that night, “right after the square dance,” and assures him that his wife, who will be coming shortly, will not be misled into entering Hell.
Great story!! We all know it can’t be Heaven if our pets are not allowed. Some of us are brought up in homes where pets are not allowed, and we find out later in life, by our children having pets just what we’ve missed. In the real Heaven there are no fake Pearly Gates which keep out those we love, including, Scotties, Horses, Donkeys, and yes, even our goats!! Thank you for a wonderful story, which helps us to see the gift we have in loving our pets.