The other day I went to the local Humane Society to purchase my annual dog license. I brought the proof that my brown hound had been vaccinated for rabies and handed it over to one of the two ladies behind the counter. The conversation went something like this;
"How much does the license cost?"
"It's only four dollars. Is your pet neutered?"
"No."
Disdainful look at me then a sideways glance at the other lady. "In that case, it'll be eight dollars." That's fine with me. I chose to leave the brown hound "intact" and if that means paying $4 extra, so be it.
The lady continues, "would you like to get him neutered?"
"No, but thanks for asking."
"No," she looks at her companion again obviously thinking that I am a horrible pet owner.
For some reason, I try to reason with them by saying, "he's such a handsome dog that I breed him."
At this the temperature in the room seemed to drop and the other lady finally chimes in, "you and about 9,000 other people."
I decided that I had better quit while I was ahead. I took my license and left. I try to temper my reaction to them because they work at the humane society and see hundreds of stray and abandoned pets. It irratates me that they assumed that I was irresponsible. How would their reaction had changed if I told them that I bred my dog and trained the puppies as companion animals or search and rescue dogs? I'll never know because I didn't think of that until about 2 hours after I left. Never fails.
Added to the Beltway Traffic Jam.
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