Why don't I appreciate animals?

Two birds with one . . . car? My girlfriend and I were driving into work the other day when BAM! Two birds literally fell right out of the sky in front of the car. Luckily for them, we were nearing our destination and only going about 20 mph. Any faster and they may have had to deal with the momentum of the car. They were also lucky because they landed between the paths of the car wheels, thus avoiding certain steam-rolling.

I checked out the scene post-plummet, and it looked like they were still alive but not doing so hot. One hopped up and tried to limp away, his wing and leg obviously having seen better days. The other one just lay there until a passerby decided to help the birds get out of the street. He fetched some bark and tried to lift / shoo them out of the road, something I was not planning to do. My first thought wasn’t completely unkind: “Should I put them out of their misery?” The incident made me reflect on my view of animals, and I realized that I take them for granted and I am not OK with that.

My thinking about this topic actually started a couple of months ago when I was with my heroic friends in LA. We were driving around LA when they spotted a dog that looked like it was a stray. Like a military exercise, he stopped the car and she jumped out to check the dog tags as he circled the block. I was surprised they stopped; I didn’t realize how deep their love for dogs is. I wouldn’t have stopped, despite growing up with dogs as pets.

My view of animals is based on farm animals. As a child, I spent a week each summer on a farm, and though the pigs and bull were long gone, there were still dogs, chickens, and semi-feral cats. They were all farm animals, and farm animals don’t curl up in your lap or beg for food. They are around because they serve a purpose like every thing else on the farm. My grandma fed the dog table scraps but didn’t scratch his belly or baby-talk to him. We didn’t name the chickens, we just collected their eggs. I think this led to the obvious but perhaps somewhat callous belief that animals aren’t people; they don’t deserve or need the same kind of care we do.

That belief stuck with me even when we returned to suburbia. At home, we had a dog, and I had promised to feed and walk him when we got him as a puppy. What kid wouldn’t promise anything to keep the cutest puppy he had ever seen. Within a week, my parents were getting up to feed him each morning. They walked him. They took care of him in his old age. Over the years, I became distracted with school, friends, TV . . . the rest of life. It’s too bad because that dog deserved so much better than the occasional care I provided. I wish I had realized what an awesome dog he was.

I haven’t had any pets but fish since living at home. I know I don’t can't afford the time or money it takes to own a dog or cat. Heck, based on the fate of my last fish tank, it doesn’t look like I have time for those (a moment of silence for, Firecrotch and Sucktomus Prime). I now realize that I have taken pets and animals for granted, and I don't think that is OK with me. I don't abuse them or anything, but I am a little too apathetic when it comes to them. 

However, going forward, I will treat pets and animals that fall from the sky more like people, even though they aren’t technically. I won’t dress them or feed them food that costs more than mine, but I will treat them with a bit more dignity and help when I can. I don't quite have the heroic nature of my friends and probably won't stop for every stray I see (baby steps). But if I see birds fall to their probable death, I will at least try to give them a fighting chance by getting them out of harm's way.