Short Story on Pet Abandonment by Grace Ng Hong Yue
Reflection – Pets have feelings too.
Many pet abandonment stories are told from the perspectives of human beings. Whether they are the people who helped the abandoned pet find a new home or the very person who abandoned their pets, the stories are mostly told from a human’s perspective. In ‘Abandoned’, I decided to paint the story from an abandoned dog’s perspective because I wanted to convey in this short story that pets have feelings too.
The whole point of the story is to convey a message that pets have feelings and to allow readers to empathise with the pet and see the emotions and thoughts of being abandoned through a dog’s perspective when it was left on a highway by its owner.
I believe that by seeing things through an abandoned pet’s perspective, pet owners can begin to see things from their pet’s point of view and will think twice before they cast out their pets.
While writing this story, I researched the most common reasons for pet abandonment. I found that one of the top reasons was that when the owner’s lifestyle changed, and could no longer take care of the pet. Be it having financial difficulties or a new family member. In my story, it was the pet owner growing up and finding new interests. As stated in many other articles on the SPCA website, it is important to make a commitment that you will make sure the pet lives a life, cared for and healthy, no matter what happens.
As shown in the short story, abandoning a pet may not only physically harm them but also affect them mentally. Pets, especially dogs who are very loyal and form strong bonds with their caregivers, might grow depressed.
Hence, I believe that owners should think twice before abandoning their pets. Since changes in life are bound to happen, we should always be prepared for it and should make arrangements so that we can still take care and ensure the well-being of our furry friends.
Short Story – Abandoned
“Goodbye. I’ll see you later Coca.” Thomas forced a smile as he tied my leash onto the metal fence separating the forest from the highway. “I’m coming back in an hour,” Thomas elaborated as he got up and headed towards his Toyota. Sighing, he entered the car and drove off.
“Vroom!” A baby blue car zoomed past, leaving me startled. With my ears pricked up and my tail between my hind quarters, I scuttled away from the road and to the safety of the fence.
My mind drifted to the day I first met Thomas…
“She’s so cute! She’s the one!” a muffled voice sounded through the glass, but the excitement in it was unmistakable. A little boy, no more than five years old, soon ran in. I stared at him and he back at me. In that instant, I knew I finally got an owner, someone who would deliver me from the small and smelly enclosure I was kept in.
After a few minutes of fussing with my collar, the boy and a tall man placed me on the black leather seat of an enormous white metal container, which I later learned to be called a Toyota by my human masters. They drove me back to their apartment. As we entered the apartment, a woman stepped out of her room. “What am I looking at?” She blinked. “Mom, this is Coca! You said I could buy a pet dog!” The boy squeaked. “Wha-? I thought it was just a joke!” The woman exclaimed, giving me a look of disgust. “Thomas, you can’t even take care of yourself, so how can we expect you to take care of this dog?” She pointed at me. Thomas smiled, “I’ll take care of her! I’m a responsible man now!”
“Vroom!” Another car zoomed by leaving a trail of dust behind. I cowered in fear next to the fence, all hairs on my body spiked upwards, “This place is scary…”. It was no place for me. But there had to be a reason why Thomas left me there. There had to be one. Looking towards the darkening sky, I could tell that nightfall was coming. Nightfall was dangerous. That was what I had been taught, meaning that I couldn’t stay there for long.
Licking my chops, I got up and paced around hoping that Thomas did not literally mean “an hour”. My mind drifted again as I lay down, and remembered the good old times…
“Coca, that’s a good girl! You’ll be prettier after your haircut. I’ll be back in 2 hours. Be good, you’re a big girl now!” Thomas patted my head and left the shop. Just as he said, he came back 2 hours later to pick me up after my haircut. Thomas always kept his promises and came back. He ALWAYS came back.
“Thanks, Coca! You’re always so good to me!” Thomas smiled at me as I handed him an extra blanket the night when he caught a cold and was shivering all night. I snuggled up beside him and tried to put him to sleep by making a low-pitched growling sound. “You’re funny, Coca!” Thomas chuckled. “Good dog!”
“I am a good dog, and Thomas will never abandon me.” I thought.
Then, I thought of what happened a month ago when Thomas turned 15…
The sun was setting, it had just finished raining. The wind caressed my furry face as Thomas led me along the pavement with my leash. “Coca, keep yourself clean. I don’t want to wash you another time today.” Thomas glared at me warningly. Thinking that it was a joke, I barked twice and sped towards the nearest puddle of water and leaped into it. “Splash!” The water droplets flew up into the air, onto Thomas, and my brown fur coat. “Coca!” Thomas shrieked and his eyes widened.
The memory faded and was replaced by another…
“Coca, today, my girlfriend’s coming over. Behave yourself and don’t bark.” Thomas patted my head. Thomas was a teenager now, how time went by! I had waited for the day to come when I would meet his girlfriend. Thomas had told me a lot of stories about her, and I could not wait to see her. “Ding Dong!” The doorbell rang. Thomas smiled at me and opened the door. His girlfriend entered. Without hesitation, I pounced on her, knocking her onto the floor. Barking loudly, I started showering her with saliva and raining licks on her. “She’s just being friendly,” Thomas shot me an unfriendly glare. Startled, the girlfriend got up and gave me a frightened look. Thomas picked me up and shoved me into his bedroom. “Sorry about that, my dog’s misbehaving again…” I heard him say as he slammed and locked the door.
The sound of another car pulled me back into reality. Was I really such a bad dog? The girlfriend incident was not intentional. I was just trying to be friendly and welcoming.
That incident happened a month ago, but I had no recollection that Thomas had forgiven me. He would just grunt and point at where he wanted me to go when we went out for walks. He would not pat me or give me ear scrubs. Perhaps this was his final decision, perhaps he had left me here for good. It all seemed to come together now. Crestfallen, I stared blankly at the oncoming traffic. What was I to do now? Was I even supposed to do anything?
“Vroom!” An enormous white Toyota halted right in front of me. I recognised it at once, it was Thomas’s Dad’s car, the one that Thomas had used to drive me here. “Why did I even suspect Thomas?” I chided myself. The car door did not open. “Thomas! Are you there?” I barked.
Silence.
Crickets chirped in the grass and owls hooted. Then, slowly, the car door opened, making me jump away. Two feet wearing red, high-heeled shoes stepped out of the car. Without looking up, I knew who the shoes’ owner was. It was Mother. Smiling, a woman with brownish, greyish curly hair untied my leash and led me back to the car. “I didn’t want Thomas to buy you. But after I accepted you into the family, I told him that he had to stick with you till the end. How irresponsible of him to leave you here! I’m bringing you back home.” She placed me on the familiar black leather seat, strapped a seatbelt around me like she always did, and got into the driver’s seat.
In the end, Thomas’s mother came back for me. Maybe I had not been such a bad dog after all!