When I was younger and showed my collie, Willie, we used to get a magazine I think called the Collie Review. It was mostly dog show world news about collies and a place for breeders to announce puppies. Often, the issues would have this poem somewhere in them, sort of a story from a dog's point of view whose owner only cared about winning shows and not the dog.
I know certainly not all breeders are like that. Willie's breeder often had dogs all over the house and she dearly loved them. So it's not to say all breeders are like this.
Anyway, I just wanted to post it here, because I was thinking about it again today for some reason. It really could pertain to other animals too, those ones that spend their lives without love.
I don't know who it is by, it always just said anonymous as the author. Here it is:
What Am I To You?
As a pup I dreamed and wondered,
What life would hold in store,
For ME, I thought, there's something GREAT!
Beyond that kennel door.
Oh there are needy people,
And I have much to give,
Love and wit and gentleness,
To help them learn to live.
I'd be someone's protector,
Keep little one's from harm,
Or guide an old man's weary steps,
Or help to run a farm.
I'd run and bark and jump and play,
With friends along a sandy shore
I'd roll in meadows, thick and green,
That lie beyond that kennel door.
I lay here waiting - longing,
As the days and years went by,
My owner kept me fed and brushed,
But inside let me die.
I do not think of greatness now,
I'm old and filled with pain,
My owner has some ribbons
But I have lived in vain.
I cannot think what could have been,
My dreams are filled with hope no more,
Just floors and walls and broken heart,
For me behind this kennel door.
