Dog No. 39

In these complicated times, when you write about something happening to pets – say, in a social media post or an article – people inevitably come after you. “You don’t have anything better to write about? People are suffering, while you…”

Even so, I try to pay attention to the things that people who care only about people have no time for. Or, perhaps, find too painful.

I’m watching some short videos sent to me by volunteers in border communities that are now closed off due to shelling. It’s actually a good thing, I think to myself, that I write about animals and not human tragedies. My eyes don’t linger as long on the destroyed homes or on the beautiful, lovingly crafted gates decorated with drawings of cute little fawns and clusters of grapes. My gaze barely pauses at the sight of a burned-out car.