The other day, I was busy combing our rescue dog, Alyssa, when I discovered something horrible. She has always been averse to having her head and neck combed. Now I know why. As I was searching for fleas, and combing her hair the wrong way, I discovered a thick band of scar tissue (about 1cm wide) on which no hair was growing. Poor Alyssa has either been strangled, or tied up to such an extent that she developed a deep cut around her throat.
How can any person harm someone or something else like that? I can understand losing your temper... I've come very close to throttling Baggins when he's dug yet another hole or chewed even more of the irrigation system.
But the sort of wounds Alyssa has speak of a deliberate, long-term action that has scarred her both physically and mentally. While I may smack Baggins, I do so with a rolled up newspaper on his rump. While I may smack Janel, it's a sharp pat on the hand, or on her bum. These are actions designed more to shock than harm. If I were ever to cause serious harm to either man or beast... well, I wouldn't. That's the point.
I don't understand how people would allow themselves to lose control to that extent. I mean, I understand how it happens, even in normal, rational human beings. You just get pushed beyond the limit, and i recognise that that can happen to anyone in extreme circumstances, that no-one is immune. What I don't understand is how you can allow yourself to be put in that situation, (particularly on a regular basis), how you can fail to develop the self-discipline needed not to remove yourself from the situation, or change the situation. What I don't understand is the lack of compassion for other lives.
When I was teaching in the UK I realised for the first time that children who behave irresponsibly and immaturely don't grow up. They don't miraculously become functional adults who can take a responsible place in society. They become irresponsible and immature adults, who procreate irresponsibly and then raise more irresponsible and immature children. These individuals are totally 'me' orientated and have no ability to sympathise or empathise with others. It was a real eye opener for me. These kids saw nothing wrong with vandalism, taking drugs, physical violence against both friend and foe, and, what was worse, neither did their parents.
While I can understand it at a cognitive level, at an emotional level I really don't. The kids I've described would have no problems with beating a dog to death. I understand that because they have no capacity for real love, because they've grown up in a world where real love has not been demonstrated to them. At an emotional level I just don't get it. How can anyone lose touch with their own humanity to that extent?
I know that we aren't the perfect dog owners. We don't have enough time to pay them the attention they deserve/ walk them/ play with them/ keep them as mentally healthy as they should be. I know that. Yet, I also know that the home we provide for our pets is a safe and happy one. They are loved, fed, given shelter, and cared for. I know that Alyssa is happy with us and feels mostly secure (every now and again, her emotional scars come peeking through and she wets herself). It makes me feel good to know that we are giving her a new chance at life, in the manner that it should be lived. I am astounded though by the human capacity for cruelty and violence. Within each of us there is a tremendous capacity for evil, and I am astounded at how easily we allow that capacity to become a reality.
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