The Issue at Hand
As the holidays draw ever closer,
families of people come home from long days of work and school to shelter
themselves indoors from the winter chill. As they take to their cozy domestic
sanctuaries, so too do they bask in the warming ambiance of festive holiday
music whilst lighting their menorahs or stringing their Christmas trees with a
collage of dazzling decorations or preparing freshly cooked ham or turkey
dinners. And, not only do the human residents rejoice in the wake of
spirit-lifting season, but so too do their pets as well. Happy, contented cats
and dogs take to the warmth and safety and security of their respective houses
and the caring owners that provide for them. They look upon the ensemble of
dazzling holiday decorations with captivation as the smell ham and turkey wafts
over their noses or the strange melodies of “White Christmas” fills their ears
as they bask in the serene warmth of a radiant fireplace hearth. In this
scenario, pets raised in a stable, living background enjoy the peacefulness and
serenity of the holiday season along with their human owners. For many
household pets, this seemingly happy-go-lucky dream is in fact a reality.
Others however, are not so fortunate.
Many pets who could otherwise enjoy the simple pleasures and luxuries of a warm
home in full holiday turnover as well as a human owner to enjoy it with them
lack both of these amenities. Here on Long Island, New York, let alone in
countless other areas across the United States and the world, there are dogs
and cats who, because of an unfortunate twist of time and circumstance, now
have to spend their cold holidays out on the street or gradually become
rehabilitated in a pet shelter or adoption center. These poor, forsaken souls,
many of whom were forced to leave the loving care of their previous owners
while others have a history of abandonment, negligence and abuse at the hands
of less-than-responsible owners, sit idly by within their chain-link cages in
their respective animal shelters as they take the long and tedious road to
normalcy. For example, Zaz, a hefty grey tabby cat, sits in solitude within his
cage at the Town of Smithtown Pet Shelter with a demeanor of dejection and
sorrow, clearly distraught over the fact that he had to be parted from his
beloved owner. Zaz’s previous owner, an elderly woman, was forced to part with
the cat under threat of eviction by her landlord.
