Tribute to Buddy

Most of us did not get a chance to meet Buddy, but like many who go before us we can still learn about them and from them.

Buddy was a pit bull mix from a shelter in Northern New Jersey who was most likely a dog that could not make the cut as a fighter. He was abandoned and brought to what I am sure he hoped was am interim home. Unfortunately Buddy bit a volunteer who attempted to take him out for a walk. Since he was judged to be a threat and also unadoptable, the decision was made to kill him.

I went to the shelter to see him the morning he was to be euthanized. I think he recognized me since he stopped barking pretty quickly and came over to the cage to get closer to me. I thanked him for being a part of my life and I told him I was going to pray for him. Just then a worker from the shelter brought him his breakfast, what was to be his last meal. The bowl was sitting on his bed. As he started to eat it, the bowl slipped half on the bed and half on the floor. Buddy looked at me and immediately took the bowl in his mouth and put it back on the bed so that not only could he eat more comfortably but he could also look at me while he finished. I concluded that this dog was one of better than average intelligence.

I started to wonder. Was he too smart for his own good? Maybe smart enough not forget the way he was probably treated and could not get over it. He was scarred and now it was going to cost him his life.

Buddy had taught me a lesson. Never underestimate the intelligence of any animal or person or make a judgment that they should get over what has happened to them. Some scars do last a lifetime. Buddy went in peace, but his life should not be in vain. Every action we commit has an effect and every life should be considered valuable.

Buddy could have been a great pet and lived in a nice home for the rest of his life. Instead he is another example of why we all need to work at becoming a more compassionate society, for everyone, animals and humans alike.

Deacon Joe Dwyer

Copyright Mary Cody. All rights reserved.

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