Living in the US for the past one month
has made me realise just how much love a human being can have for one animal –
a dog!!! Almost every person I have encountered during my stay (and I certainly
have met lots of people) has told me about their dog (or dogs). Even in the
instances where a person did not have a dog, the conversation somehow and somewhere
along the line drifted to dog talk.
I heard how cute, loving and loyal dogs
are such that some people prefer having a dog to a child (some say a child is not
only too demanding but expensive to maintain). I also learnt, albeit
shockingly, just how profound the love for dogs is for some Americans when one
guy at our apartment accosted a colleague and I for talking in the hallway. He
said we were disturbing his dogs which were trying to sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I
was amazed that employees at Google are allowed to bring their dogs along to
work every day and that an editor at the Call
and Post newspaper also reports for work with her dog each day of the month.
I’m personally not a dog lover, having
been bitten by two in my late childhood. Every time I see a dog, particularly
the bigger ones, I cringe and think about the evening when two canines sunk
their teeth into my leg and butt. I remember vividly how one evening, as my sister
and I happily chatted away while walking a few feet ahead of my aunt who was
taking a stroll with her boyfriend, a gate opened and two dogs came rushing out
and charged at us. Instinctively, we ran, which I have now learned from the dog
lovers, was the mistake we made. My sister was lucky and got away but I fell
into a ditch and the dogs had a go at me.
The fact that I had to endure 14
injections on my already sore behind, courtesy of the dog bites, took away any
love I may have had for dogs. From that time I have steered clear of dogs and
certainly don’t see them as man’s best friend as most people I have met in the
US do. I must admit that while all the talk about dogs has been great, it
has not softened my heart at all. I am certainly no dog lover.
Carole Phiri-Chibbonta
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