Today’s quote is just in time for this week’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show when the limelight is on all of the best purebred dogs. Now I’m not at all against purebred dogs (because ALL dogs make everything better), BUT I do think it’s very important to realize that for each perfect dog they show, there are a lot of sad stories left in the wake of the pursuit to get there (just like with the horse racing industry). My biggest beef is that in the case of the American Kennel Club, they’re turning a blind eye and lobbying big time against legislation to outlaw scummy breeders like puppy mills. And in my state, those places still exist. Boo. I read this article in the New York Times over the weekend, and my frustration with them was refreshed.

Now that I’m down off my soapbox, I’m going to sneak in a little bit more of the story here. What follows is the dog’s point of view, which he says after he overhears the boy referring to him in the words above:

“I am a middle-sized dog, with spots on me here and there, and several colours of hair mixed in even where there aren’t any spots, and my ears are frazzled a little on the ends where they have been chewed in fights. At first glance you might not pick me for an aristocrat. But I am one. I was considerably surprised when I discovered it, as nothing in my inmost feelings up to that time, nor in the treatment which I had received from dogs, humans or boys, had led me to suspect it.”