I almost didn’t recognize my old friend Mike when I ran into him on Somerset Street this morning. That’s because every single time I’ve seen him in the last twelve years, he’s had his dog, Ebony, with him. Today he was alone, and we were practically colliding by the time I recognized him.
“Hey,” I said, “Where’s your puppy?”
I knew the answer before he even uttered the words.
She died last week.
Mike adored that dog. They spent virtually every minute of every day together for the past twelve and a half years. They lived alone in an apartment, and he sometimes thought about moving but he wanted her to have a stable home with the same dog park and the same friends throughout her life.
Now he says he’s rattling around alone in there, sensing her, almost seeing her, missing her, weeping. He still goes to the dog park to see the other dogs, and his dog park friends let him walk their dogs during the day so he’ll have some canine company. It helps, he said.
But he looks so lost and incomplete without his dog.
Ebony was a pit bull, and a very sweet and gentle soul. She adored children and tolerated anything from them. She would gently place her Kong in baby carriages, a gift for the tiny occupants.
There’s a blind lawyer who works in my office building. (He’s the guy who forced OC Transpo drivers to start calling out the stops, so that blind people could get their bearings.) This lawyer specializes unofficially in representing dogs on death row. These are dogs who have been ordered destroyed for ‘aggressive’ behaviour. Often, he says, they really haven’t done anything wrong. They were provoked or behaved in an entirely reasonable manner considering the circumstances. However, there is a bias against certain breeds in the canine justice system.
A pit bull will often be automatically deemed the aggressor in any
altercation between dogs, even if she didn’t start it and was just trying to defend herself from an attack. Frequently the lawyer’s defence rests on proving the dog is not a pit bull.
The other day he invited a couple of us up to his boardroom to look at photographs of his clients. These dogs are all alive and free because he successfully defended them. He has another client, a pit bull in Toronto, who has been on death row for three years now (that’s 21 dog years). The dog has been in a shelter that entire time. Apparently that case is heading to the Supreme Court.
Please give your dogs an extra hug today, in memory of Ebony and in solidarity with the underdogs on death row.
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My heart goes out to Mike. I’d be lost without my little dog.
That’s very sad.
My aunt had a pitbull and she was the sweetest thing, would never hurt a fly. I’ve seen toy poodles that are meaner.
I think there is a great prejudice about pit bulls and other similar dogs and it’s very sad
I remember Ebony. What a sweetie. My yahoo dog used to try to steal her kong but never really succeded. I remember suggesting to Mike that there could be an Olympic sport for rowdy dogs passing sticks in a relay race. Jeez, I’m teary-eyed now. Damm, don’t we love our critters…
I’ve known a few really sweet pit bulls in my time and I’ve heard of some really horrible beasts. There was an incident locally of pit bulls running wild and savaging a neighbors’ animals. And they do seem to have a definite cachet with the young ne’er-do-wells. But as an animal lover, I’m reluctant to make sweeping generalizations. I grew up with dogs and we had one sweet looking cocker spaniel who was vicious and had to be put down.
My heart goes out to anyone who has lost a dear companion.
If you ban pit breeds the type that like a “tough” seeming breed just get a different breed, so then do you van dovies, rotties, german shepherds???
Yorkshire Terriers have savagely killed human beings…tiny helpless babies have been murdered by these dogs! Does anyone really think they should be banned?
Pit breeds are WONDERFUL stable dogs and they are amazing with rough little kids because they are so stable. It isn’t the breed that is a problem, it is the individual owners
It’s too sad. Maybe when he’s ready, he could go to the pound and find a great new dog and it will make him feel better to know that he rescued someone.
Mike frequents the dogpark we go to and when we saw him there without Ebony we just knew. My dogs love Mike and gave him so much love and attention when they saw him, almost like they knew.
Poor Eb. All she wanted was her Kong and her dad. Mike took her to the park daily, without fail, and stayed longer than anyone else. Ebony was the most loved dog and always recognizable in the winter with her red coat on. She had a great life with him.
Whoever Mike brings into his life will be one lucky dog. But, for now, he’s welcome to share his dehydrated liver treats (he makes them himself) and his love with my two little ones.
I’m always reminded of Ottawa’s small-town nature when I blog about someone and people say “I know him!” It’s even more small-towny when I blog about a dog and people say “I know her!”
I’ve known Mike for about 25 years – we met in school and then we went skydiving together. Parasol, you’re right – it’ll be a very lucky dog who gets him next.
Dr. Dawg, I hope it’s a long time before you have to face that day.
I agree with all of you who say it’s the owners, not the breed. I used to know a guy named Batman who had toxic levels of testosterone running through him and he was batshit crazy and proud of it. He got himself a pit bull and taught it to be just like him. It was awful. On the other hand, I’ve known sweet gentle dogs from all the maligned breeds, and they all had good owners.
Oh gosh. I’m not anywhere near Ottowa, but my heart goes out to Mike. I don’t even want to think about being dogless, even though I know it’s going to happen one day. It makes such a hole in your life when they’re gone. At least Mike knows he gave Ebony the best life she could have had. He couldn’t have done any more for her than that.
And yes, they can go ahead and ban pit bulls etc., but as soon as they do that, they’ll strat breeding other breeds for fighting and we’ll just wind up with German Sheps in the same situation. Banning dogs isn’t the answer when it’s the people who are the problem.
I’m glad he’s in their pitching until groupthink swings back to sense.
Sympathies to Mike.