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Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Dog Chow
By Jeanne Tan Te
Flavors
EVERY six in the afternoon has been my turn to ration our dogs of their dinner. This is my half of the kennel chores which my husband and I take turns to perform since we do not have any helper in the house. On one of these occasions, I caught myself staring at Frida, our Philippine champ female boxer. As I watched her slurp through her dogfood, I thought how awful this breed of a dog actually looked. Bulging eyes, an almost flat nose, and a wide salivating mouth with tiny little fangs for its teeth. But despite the way this animal looked, behind her face is a tender, loyal, and alert companion who is just too eager to please, too fearless to protect her master's household.
Looks are often deceiving. We all know that. Well, at least 10-year-olds and above do. The scheming ways by which looks - title and social position included - are used to disadvantage others, now that's one quality of humans that upsets me.
* * *
King (not his real name), a fellow dog owner who is also a good friend, recently confided his disturbing experience with the dog world. A man with a respectable and authoritative-sounding title - let's name him, Sir - solicited King's male dog for a stud service. As they both agreed on, Sir would pay a stud fee so that King would no longer get his share from the puppies born out of this mating event. There would be two stud sessions with one day interval to make sure that the bitch will get pregnant. On the first session, Sir came with his female dog and his sob story of financial difficulty since he has to pay his kid's tuition fee for the school's final exams; then, promised to come up with the cash next time. Sir went home satisfied that day. The male and female dogs made a good tie, with no money involved. And King feeling anxious. The second session came. Sir went off, again satisfied with what he came for, still no cash. King was now confused. Was he going to insist on what they have clearly agreed upon in the first place? That the stud fee should be paid in full upon the first session when a good tie was made between the two dogs? Or was he going to be a good Christian and show some compassion?
When King mentioned this man's name to us, we readily recognized the crook and his similar exploits with other decent breeders. In fact, this same man approached us several years ago with the same plot. Luckily, stories of his misdeeds with two breeders we personally knew preceded him so we, tactfully turned him down. We advised King to be cautious next time and never entertain Sir ever again.
Some weeks passed, Sir showed up with the 50 percent of the stud fee! Hooray! And another female dog for another stud service. Uh-oh! And King yielding to the same thing all over again. "I'm giving him a second chance. After all, I'm a Christian." Huh? With a 50 percent balance and no payment for the second bitch. Argh!
King patiently collected the balance for the first stud, in several partial payments until Sir finally promised to just pay him the second stud fee with a puppy share when the first female gives birth. Two months passed, King claimed his share as payment for the second female that wasn't paid for - something like one for every four puppies. No. You'll get your share when the second female gives birth. All my puppies already have buyers. I will give you one puppy from the whole litter, Sir asserted. And you don't get any if there are only three puppies. Just to be peaceful about the whole thing, King consented. But... "You have to issue stud certificates first so I can register my puppies with a legitimate pedigree," Sir continued. (Or else?)
To make this story short, King hasn't been able to get his puppy share from Sir up to now. Just recently, they had a heated confrontation because Sir already refused to give the puppy. He said he was able to get a falsified stud certificate from another breeder for an amount equivalent to 50 percent of the supposed stud fee. He would only pay King 50 percent, but and only if, he is given a signed, official stud certificate. "I have done this before, you know," Sir flaunted. "That was a puppy share agreement and I hid all the puppies so the foolish guy couldn't get a single puppy from me. Ha!"
* * *
I certainly hope that the Iloilo Kennel Club would be able to curtail problems like this in the future. Of course, we couldn't send guys like Sir off to jail. I mean, what's a petty disagreement over some dogs got to do with the law anyway? Not unless, there's been a written agreement which has been violated. It's a pity however, how some unscrupulous persons capitalize on seemingly trivial matters for their vicious interests. Why, Sir would be able to sell his puppies at around five thousand pesos or, even higher if they have legitimate registration papers. In case you still haven't figured it out, it's all about money. Guys like Sir even probably enjoy the extra high for having been able to subdue the innocent and weak into their wily puppetry.
It isn't really about whether it's just about little things that concern dogs or as significant as the Garci tape. Because no matter what, greed and viciousness will lurk everywhere. And it will thrive if one chooses to let an evil act simply pass. Yes, forgiveness is a virtue but to tolerate wrongdoings by allowing the person to keep re-enacting his scheme right under your nose or providing services like fake documents "if the price is right" is, I think, an even bigger mistake. And besides, I've always believed that forgiveness is often asked, not given. So why forgive if the offender has not even started feeling sorry for what he did?
* * *
We own a total of 10 dogs, five of which are small breeds - lazy, glamorous-looking, vain shih tzus. They readily capture the hearts of bill collectors. two medium breeds - constantly playful, gnawing, attention-seeking, nosy hounds. They are the neighborhood playmates. And then, the canine doorbells: three large guard dogs on a 24-hour watch. Over the years of living and training with them, it was I who has actually learned something valuable from them. That no matter the differences in sizes, looks and characters, dogs will never hesitate to let out a bark whenever they would feel pain. So, whenever somebody causes me any offense, I readily tell the person. It's not necessarily to resolve anything or even reform the person. It's just to let the person know that, hey, what you did to me was wrong and I know it. And I'm letting you know so you would not do it again - at least, not to me. Ever.
If everyone will just learn how to "bark", and not just shrug their shoulders, turn mute or smile hypocritically at any offense, wouldn't this world become better than just a dog-eat-dog world? (Tan-Te writes for Sun.Star Iloilo)
(April 26, 2006 issue)
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