By the time people reach my age, chances are good that they have owned their share of dogs or cats. They’re great companions but sometimes worrisome.
Occasionally I’ll come across a lost dog ad in the paper, and I am totally perplexed. That’s because whenever one of my dogs wandered off, it always found its way home by dinnertime.
In fact, I’m confident that I could have taken either of my dogs for a car ride far out into the countryside, and after getting out of the car, attached his favorite toy to a gas-powered model airplane and sent him scampering after it as it soared for miles at a low level until running out of gas.
Then upon returning home, I would have been greeted on my doorstep by a panting, grinning Rover, toy in mouth, anxious to go fetch it again! Of course, I would have never done that but am simply illustrating my point.
Haven’t these lost dogs in the ads seen “Lassie Come Home”? Or how about “The Incredible Journey”? It is simply against a dog’s nature to remain lost long.
What if seeing-eye dogs were to get lost? Now you’ve got two individuals to search for.
Speaking of search, aren’t some canines trained as search and rescue dogs? So if the dog searching for a lost person gets lost, what next?
Now a lost cat ad, that I can understand. A cat steps a few feet from the litter box and begins to panic. A cat can walk around the street corner and suddenly think it has been transported to the middle of Mirkwood Forest.
Come to think about it, most people don’t even bother to report a lost cat. Since, at any moment, another person’s lost cat will most likely show up meowing mournfully on their front step. Apparently it all evens out as the owners and their new cats simply start all over.
Finally, how many dogs or cats do you know who read the newspaper? So the chances aren’t good that Kitty is going to see her picture and say, “That’s me! Why, I didn’t even know I was lost. Hope I didn’t miss dinner.”
