Born Free

Seeing homeless dogs is heartbreaking, but do they think it is heartbreaking living free on the streets?
I guess it is the same with humans, children and animals; it depends on so many different factors. It is different from country to country. I noticed here in the part of Italy where we are, that many of the strays are very relaxed roaming around the streets, and like in Bulgaria or Bosnia they are awesome when it comes to paying attention to the cars—traffic.
So why are they more relaxed than for example in Fayetteville, North Carolina?

One theory is that here, no humans or dogcatchers are chasing them or hunting them to be killed. So these dogs feel safe and relaxed, their job is to find food and water, and since there is plenty of garbage, there is plenty of food.

In Fayetteville, in the county of Cumberland, 800 dogs are being killed every month, gassed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Scary number! But they claim it is for the animals best.

Animals are born with instinct and intuition; they know danger but humans trick them to come to them. They are powerless many times.
When I worked with stray dogs in Bosnia some organizations caught dogs and tied them up to small doghouses to feed them and hopefully one day adopt them to a kind family. Some dogs were still tied up after two years and you could see that their spirit had left their eyes.
It is heartbreaking to see them, but does that mean all of them are heartbroken without any owner? Is it the same feeling for the animals in the wildness or are these animals happy being born free and to stay free?
But the most important thing is to look at every individual case and then make a judgment, like with everything living and breathing.
I remember once I met a homeless man that was “happy” by being “free” He was offered apartment and a job but he preferred to live on the street, free. Some dogs are “happy” living free, and some are suffering. Nothing in life is black or white… everything is a shade of gray.

Don’t judge a book by its cover, have an open mind and heart.