Two recent news stories about animal euthanasia provide humanity with valuable lessons in love, compassion and detachment as we enter the Golden Age. The first involves a “miracle dog” that defied death in a gas chamber, and the second a young girl who asked her powerful father to change his stance on terminating the lives of stray and abandoned animals.

The Dog Who Refused to Die

On August 7, 2003, after being thrown into a gas chamber to be euthanized along with other unwanted or unclaimed dogs at a city animal shelter in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, it seemed that a year-old Basenji mix had run out of luck — and time. But this pup had other ideas. When the chamber’s door swung open after his gassing, the dog, dubbed “Quentin” by shelter workers, stood very much alive, his tail and tongue wagging!

Shelter supervisor Rosemary Ficken was amazed. In all her years as an animal control officer, she had never seen such a miraculous case of survival, and did not have the heart to slam the door shut again. This thirty-pound animal, she believed, had beaten the odds and should live on. So Ms. Ficken told Randy Grim, head of the charitable shelter Stray Rescue of St. Louis, ‘Please, take him. I don’t have the heart to put him back in there and re-gas him.” Stray Rescue then took the dog in and contacted local media. Soon TV stations around the U. S. were playing Quentin’s story and offers of adoption came pouring into the shelter.

After his ordeal, Quentin was a bit malnourished but in very good condition. “To me, it’s a miracle or divine intervention,” Mr. Grim said. “I can’t help but think he’s here to serve a higher purpose. This case blew me away. This is amazing.”

The “higher purpose” Quentin’s survival may serve is to show humankind that it often acts rashly and thoughtlessly when dealing with its animal friends, and that the divine spirit within all living creatures is ultimately stronger than any human-engineered efforts to stifle it. Also, after reading this story, many people will undoubtedly come to rethink their views on killing stray and unclaimed animals, and show more compassion for their fellow beings in the animal kingdom, who have the same sensibilities and feelings that we do.

In addition, Quentin’s remarkable display of resilience offers profound lessons in detachment and living in the moment. For, despite the concerted attempt to end his life, this innocent, helpless creature managed to survive and remain happy, loving and forgiving, suggesting that we should look to our animal brothers and sisters as examples when facing life’s challenges and pain. As Supreme Master Ching Hai says, “We should be more like the animals. They’re always in the present.”

A Teenager Helps Save Countless Animals’ Lives

Another fascinating story involving animal rescue comes from California, USA, where, due in part to his teenage daughter’s timely intervention, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently changed his position on early termination of shelter animals.

In June 2004, California’s stray animals seemed to be falling victim to state budget cuts as Governor Schwarzenegger’s administration was advocating a change in state law to allow animal shelters to kill strays sooner. Under the plan, dogs and cats in shelter custody could be put to death after being held for just 72 hours — not six days as specified under existing state law. Moreover, birds, potbellied pigs, snakes and other household pets could be killed immediately upon arrival at shelters.

When shocked animal-rights activists learned of the plan, they mobilized quickly and dogs began showing up at the Capitol Building in Sacramento. The canines, happily oblivious to the political drama surrounding them, sat obediently in a row near the Capitol steps at the request of their concerned owners. Meanwhile, members of the California Potbellied Pig Association and other animal advocates contacted officials. Then the state’s most powerful man paused, changed course and restored a measure of compassion to California’s animal-control laws.

At a hastily called news conference on June 25, Schwarzenegger told reporters, “I realized last night that there was a mistake I made. I wanted to tell you that I have reinstated the six-day waiting period for lost animals. Everything will stay exactly the same.” And apparently, animal-rights groups had not been his only critics. The Governor said that his teenage daughter had complained, too. By day’s end, Schwarzenegger, whose family owns at least one dog, took a break from budget talks to say the whole thing had been the result of an oversight. The plan to shorten shelter animals’ lives was mistakenly added to his January budget, which was put together quickly after he was elected. Asked what caused his change of heart — public pressure, memories of the pet pigs he owned as a child in Austria — he replied with the simplest of answers: “My daughter called me.”

Like the case of Quentin the miracle dog, this incident shows that humanity needs to show more compassion and concern for its animal brothers and sisters, especially now as we enter the Golden Age. And it is often through the intercession of the world’s most innocent and unassuming residents — animals, children and young adults – that we can learn the most precious lessons in this area of virtue.

For further details, please visit the following URLs:
http://www.strayrescue.org/quentin.html
(Quentin the ‘miracle dog’)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6668-2004Jun25.html
(Governor Schwarzenegger’s change of heart)