My Muse's Musings

I believe animals have souls. I’ve had too many pets who have loved me, and whom I have loved, not to believe that there’s a special bond forged between humans and animals when you take them into your home. Scientists say that animals are incapable of emotion, or that they aren’t intelligent enough to love.   But all pet owners who have experienced that special kind of bond know that’s a bunch of horse hockey. One of our pets whose love had to be earned more than most was Gray Dog. When my children started calling him Gray Dog he wasn’t our dog. He was owned by a man who lived in a trailer down the hill from our house. For 4 years I snuck down and gave him food, water, dog biscuits and even bones while the owner was gone. During those 4 years I never once saw the man or his wife and son offer a loving pat or a kind word to the dog. He was invisible to them. They’d get out of their car and walk right past him, ignoring his tentative wagging tail, and walk into...