Dog Blogging

Here’s how it went:

1. Artist ties a dog to a tether on one corner of a room in a museum
2. Artist places bowl of food just out of reach in other corner
3. Over a period of days, dog dies of starvation.

I first read about this here, and I was livid; however, it turns out that what people believed was happening was not happening at all. In fact, the dog was well cared for, and was fed daily. The point of the exhibit was that the artist…

… intended the work to be a stunt to show how a starving dog suddenly becomes the centre of attention when it is in a gallery, but not when it is on the street. The work was intended to expose people for what they really are – “hyprocritical sheep”. He said that in order for the work to be valid, he and the gallery had to give the impression that the dog was genuinely starving to death and that it died.

In retrospect, he certainly did prove his point, didn’t he? There are two million signatures on the petition and nearly 73,000 members on the Starving Dogs is not art Facebook Group.

Clever, in a morbid kind of way.

The Dog Starvation ExhibitPost + Comments (30)

At risk of being accused of posting the “lamest post evah”….

I’ve been volunteering for the past few weeks at the Atlanta Humane Society. It’s honestly been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had – and I’ve done a lot in life. My first surprise when I started was how immaculately clean the place had to be. You can’t do anything there without sanitizing afterwards. Unlike a lot of people who volunteer and gravitate to the puppy kennel, I prefer the adult dog kennel. It’s like an orphanage, I suspect. People who come to adopt come for the puppies. The adult dog kennel is never busy. And it’s a shame really. When you adopt an adult dog, you’re getting a dog you don’t have to worry about. It already knows not to piss and shit on your floor.

Today was amazing. I was doing my rounds in the kennel – I usually go from pen to pen and just give the dogs a bit of attention. If the dog has pooped, I’ll clean it up (rule #1: No dog should have to go for more than 5 minutes with a mess in its cage.) If the dog needs water, I’ll do that. But mostly, I just spend five minutes with each dog, scratching its ears, playing, whatever. Today, a dog really had an impact on me. It was a small hound (think Bassett, but all yellow.) She was baying and baying and, frankly, getting on everyone’s nerves. I stopped at her pen and went inside. She immediately nuzzled right into me as though she was a puppy doing the same thing to her mother (she’s 4.) When I put my arms around her, she was shaking a lot. I stayed with her for about 15 minutes – just paying attention to her and letting her know someone was there.

For the rest of the afternoon, she didn’t make a sound.

The Atlanta Humane Society is an amazing place. Basically, I clean up poop all day and make sure things are immaculately clean – and I LOVE every minute of it. When I get home at dinner time, I smell like bleach! The best part is that you know you are doing something wonderful for animals that were unwanted by someone.

I’m so impressed with how incredibly well-run the place is. Seriously, you could (almost) eat off the floors. You handle one dog – you sanitize before you touch another. You work in the clinic with sick animals? You can’t touch puppies available for adoption. Everything is done to maximize the safety of the animals – whether they’re dogs, cats, rabbits, gerbils, or whatever.

The only bad part is coming home at the end of the day. Charlotte (my Labrador) completely shuns me after she smells the dogs I’ve been playing with all day.

The Humane SocietyPost + Comments (65)

This is a bad camera phone pic, but this is how my roommate’s dog sleeps.

He’s Buddy, and he’s a good dog.

BuddyPost + Comments (24)

This:

and this.

Update: Watching the Green Bay/Detroit game. The Lions REALLY need someone to come in and rethink their uniforms. Baby Blue?

Update II: Cowboys are gonna get their asses kicked by the Jets. I’ll say by 15 points at least.

What I am Thankful For…Post + Comments (29)

I blog about my dog quite often at my own place. She’s a great friend. The Lab is mine. The Irish is my neighbor’s. (l-r. Princessa and Charlotte)

Dog Blogging: She’s a LibrulPost + Comments (19)