The Philosophy of Understanding Sid

Namaste

We tout the fact that we are a no-kill shelter here at the St. Tammany Humane Society. And why not? It is a status to take pride in. I want you to keep this in mind as I veer from that point for a moment.


This morning, as I drank my jasmine tea and glanced at a short passage by Thich Nhat Hahn, I read, “To be true, love needs to contain both real understanding and right action which takes time and patience.” And I thought about this: To be true, love has a requisite of real understanding. Such a commonly accepted truth is oft times taken for granted, as these two words are linked together in our language almost ad nauseum. But when I took a moment to reflect upon this little over-quoted truism, I realized that I didn’t ‘understand’ understanding at all. When I think of the things in life that I truly love, then (and only then) do I fully comprehend what it means to understand, or empathize with another person, animal, or plant (I once had a very special friendship with a rubber tree with whom I felt a strong connection). Conversely, if I consciously make an effort (right action which takes time and patience, according to Thich Nhat Hahn) to understand a fellow being, a feeling of true love and compassion will naturally follow, as the two can hardly be separated.

Now that I have more accurately and clearly defined the relationship between love and understanding, I can see that you cannot have one without the other. If I love, I understand. If I understand, I love. And yet this simple equation has the masses confounded…..for we do not know how to begin the path which leads to understanding. It begins with ‘seeing’ what we are looking at.

I am the ideal example of one of the ignorant masses, as I am mediocre in almost every aspect of one’s mental, physical, and philosophical leanings. Therefore I shall use myself as the guinea pig in the following vignette.

Sid, as many of you who are familiar with STHS already know, is the longest resident at the Humane Society. He is a 4 year old mixed breed and has been here for about 3 of those years. I have walked past Sid’s kennel several hundred times, and watched with a wary eye as he sometimes (not always) lunged at the potential adopters walking by. I must admit, my level of understanding at this point was very low. And so, in an effort to socialize Sid, he was brought in as the ‘office dog’ for a while. Trying to scoot him out of the break room one afternoon, he whipped around and snapped at me in a sinister warning. Again….my level of understanding sunk even lower, probably teetering near rock bottom. In addition to negative firsthand experience, hearing negative second and third hand accounts seemed to accumulate and harden my already unfavorable feelings toward Sid.

And then I made the decision to mentally ‘stop’ and instead of merely looking at Sid, I made a sincere effort to ‘see’ Sid. And what I saw jarred me a little. For in trying to see Sid, I saw many aspects of myself.

I saw a soul sinking in the sedentary, trying to make sense of his world and those in it. I saw his fear of change. I saw confusion when he could not read the minds of people in knowing what was expected of him. I saw his yearning for affection and pleas for guidance. I saw his grit and spirit rise up when he felt cornered and misunderstood. I saw his hope wane behind the bars that he has unwittingly secured, blocking his path to freedom. I saw us all.

It is difficult to raise our awareness to a point to which we can truly ‘see’ ALL people and animals in this light. But not impossible. STHS challenges you to begin that path of understanding. And if you, or anyone you know, is an experienced dog owner and looking to adopt……..we ask that you consider our Sid. And in returning to my initial statement: St. Tammany Humane Society is a no-kill shelter, but we must be mindful of saving the spirit as well as the physical body of every animal in our care! Until then no shelter or rescue, in all honesty, can claim to be no kill. UNDERSTAND. LOVE. RESCUE.