Love thy pet.
It was a creed written into the adoption papers that declared the destiny of a hundred thousand animals.
Love thy pet.
It was whispered by schnauzers and domestic short-hairs as they blazed a trail to adoption.
Love thy pet.
It was sung by Labradors as they swam out from distant shores and poodles whose hair tangled in the unforgiving wilderness.
Love thy pet.
It was the call of collies who organized; cats who reached for yarn; a pit bull who chased the tennis balls on a Sunday afternoon; and an old mutt who took us on a long walk and pulled the whole way to the ice cream stand.
Love thy pet with tender impunity.
Love thy pet for companionship and loyalty.
Love thy pet to shelter the homeless.
Love thy pet to end cruelty.
Love thy pet.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter how many shoes are destroyed, no matter how many carpets are stained, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of hands caring for pets.
We have been told we cannot do this by yelping cynics. They will only grow louder and more dissonant. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been encouraged to stop; warned that we cannot save them all.
But in the story that is pet adoption, we can save some.
Now the fate of the litter of kittens who were found half-starved in a crumbling alleyway are the same as the dreams of the puppy abused and abandoned on the side of a highway; we will remember that there is something we can do; that we are not as divided as breeds suggest; that we work toward love; that we strive to make humanity humane; and together, we will improve at least these lives with a mantra whose realization will shake the hearts of our nation from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea.
Love. Thy. Pet.
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