I saw this on The Daily What today, and I have to say that I think this guy, Benoit Denizet-Lewis, is living the dream. Imagine hanging out with your bestie and traveling all over the place to meet other dogs across the country?
He is basically a New York Times writer who is using the excuse of writing a book about dogs in America to go on a super road tirp with his best friend, Casey. He (Benoit, not Casey) says of his trip:
I am traveling around the country in an El Monte RV with my dog, Casey, as I work on my book about dogs in America (to be published in 2013 by Simon & Schuster). I hope you will (virtually) come along for the ride.
Think of what his publicity could do for dogs! I don't know if that is his aim though. He's seen some amazing dogs though, and he's passed through some shelters (not to mention, his BFF Casey is also awesome). In fact, some of the photos below (like the dog hanging onto a man for dear life or the black dog snuggled down on the bed next to Casey) are all shelter dogs. The one hanging on to the man has been claimed and has found his forever home. The black dog was scared about traveling in doors and had to be carried, but she got a treat and found that she really loves beds. Aw! What good little stories, right? And I know he's done some rescue work, so how could he not write on this topic? I have faith that he will. There is an abandoned pet epidemic in the United States. And it's not like "oh no, we have to change our way of life to stop it!" Rather, we can just take small steps that will decrease the number of unwanted pets (spay and neuter your pets, don't take one pets you can't afford or be responsible for, and adopt!).
There are really are some wonderful dogs out there though, and I've been thinking that it's especially sad because we've placed dogs in this completely reliant situation. I mean, yes, they can survive on their own but we've bred them to love us and want to be near us and some breeds actually can't survive very well on their own (think bulldogs, whose wrinkly faces actually get infected and which require cleaning by their human companions). I think there are some great people out there helping out, and it gives me hope. Like this guy, Eldad Hagar, who posts amazing inspirational rescue videos (with somewhat distracting music playing over the clips, but hey, I'm sure he has a budget and time constraints). Check out the rescue video of this beautiful pitbull named Nala (originally Blu) who is just terrified and sweet.
Tell me this isn't adorably sweet? Most of the dogs in Eldad's videos have no idea what it's like to be petted. There was this dog, Duke, who was snarling and raising his hackles, but when he realized the hand wasn't lowering to hit or hurt him, he looked confused and then comforted. Other dogs, like Ralph, were biting in fear but once they petted him with a rolled up blanket, and then slowly transitioned into using a hand, he realized what a beautiful feeling it was to be loved and he totally came out of his shell. It's so heartwarming and sad at the same time. In case you couldn't see the video (sometimes the embedding is weird) here are some snapshots.
Cheers to stories with happy endings for our four-legged friends!
