The Love Light

When I was a kid, I read this book about a girl who was caught stealing a bracelet and was sentenced to community service- some ungodly amount of time volunteering at the local humane society. This was the story of a a "typical teenager;" jaded, getting into trouble, hater of the Strict Stepfather and Overlyathletic Mother. Overall this was a pretty depressing book- getting into trouble, court dates, the mother's heart attack and the way that Strict Stepfather aggravated every situation. But the worst was the dog. Oh, the DOG. When Miss Shoplifter starts at the shelter, she develops an unexpected bond with a dog. This dog reacts immediately every time Miss Shoplifter comes into the room. He follows her everywhere, and they grow to love each other. One day, she comments on the way this dog looks at her. The sage humane society says, "Ahh, yes. He's got the love light in his eye. Very special thing, comes along only once in a lifetime. Means he loves you, and only you. There's a very special bond there." Well, soon this special dog's time has expired in the shelter- he is given one week to be adopted or he will be euthanized. Miss Shoplifter begs to take him home, to which Strict Stepfather replies, "We are not here to provide a home for every damned dog you see." She puts posters up, goes door to door- everything in her power to find this dog a home. Finally, two days before the deadline, she finds a family that will take him in. When she shows up at the shelter with the good news, she is told that he had been put down only an hour before. The love light is out forever. Miss Shoplifter falls into a deep state of depression over the loss of the dog who appears to be the only character in the book who loves her and Strict Stepfather says, "well, it's not MY fault- we can't save every dog in the world just because she asks us too." And the mother replies, "She didn't ask us to save every dog- she asked us to save one." This was an extremely depressing book!

Many people say that animals can not love-that they only use us for food and shelter, and tolerate us in return for these amenities. I don't know how anyone who owns a pet or works with animals can think this way, but they do. I feel sorry for these people, these people who can not see the love light in their pets eyes. Who can not feel the warmth emanating from every pet. I see this light in nearly every dog and cat that comes through our doors. I feel this most poignantly during euthanasia, which is the most difficult and loving moment in any animal to human relationship. During these last moments, the love between human and animal fills the entire room. Sick as this animal may be, that love light is still in her eyes and only goes out in that moment when the soul leaves the body. The human-animal bond is absolutely overwhelming... how can anyone not describe this bond as a loving one?

As further proof of the loving (not necessity) bond between humans and animals, I am not the one who feeds the animals in my household. This task falls to Jon 99% of the time, yet I am the one that the cats prefer. They know the sound of my car, and go running for the font door as soon as I pull into the parking lot. They follow me from room to room until I settle down and they can climb into my lap. At this moment, Kody and Tabitha are laying next to me, gazing at me like I am the center of the universe. I can feel all of the stresses of my day melting away under that gaze- who cares how bad of a day/week/month I've had? At the end of the day, my cats are still here, showing that unconditional love. I honestly can't even remember the last time that I was the one who scooped food into their bowl, and yet here they are by my side. If they were only hoping for food, they would be clamouring around Jon, and ignoring me in my uselessness.

Proof that the purest form of unconditional love comes from the animal kingdom.