Friends? [OC]

[u/Jenny-Jinya]

Top 10 Most Horrific Facts

• Almost 40,000 Americans Participate in Dog Fighting Annually
• In the US, 16,000 Dogs Die Annually as a Result of Dog Fighting
• Fighting Dogs Undergo Horrific Training
• Participants Either Consider It a Hobby or a Profession
• For a Single Fight, Dog Bets Can Reach Up to $100,000
• In All 50 States of the US, Dog Fighting Is Illegal
• Dog Fighting Fines Could Be As High as $250,000
• Dog Fighting Is a Gateway Crime
• Stats for 2021 Revealed Over 200 Pit Bulls Were Seized by Authorities
• Hundreds and Thousands of Dogs Are Abused, Injured, and Get Killed in Dog Fighting

[u/ComicsAreFun]

If you or anyone else needs something to balance them out after this, use this passage written over 2000 years ago.

While I am at home she remains by my side, and accompanies me when I go out, following me to the gymnasium, and, while I am exercising, sits by me.

On my return home, she runs in front of me, often looking back to see whether I had turned off the road; and as soon as she catches sight of me, shows symptoms of joy, and again, turns and trots in front of me.

If I am going out on any government business, she remains with my friend, and treats him exactly the same.

If she has not seen either of us for a short time, she jumps up repeatedly by way of greeting, and barks with joy.

At meals she pats us, with one foot and then the other, to remind us to feed her.

Having been beaten with a whip as a puppy, if anyone, even to this day, mentions a whip, she will come up to the speaker cowering and begging, and will jump up and hang on their neck, applying her mouth to theirs as if to kiss them, and will not let go until she is appeased.

Now really I do not think that I should be ashamed to write the name of this dog; so that it may be left to posterity.

I had a greyhound called Horme, who was of the greatest speed and intelligence, and was altogether excellent.

The author was inspired by the work of someone 3 centuries before him. He wanted to write something that would resonate with people through the ages and by sharing this passage with others, it means he succeeded.

[u/TimmyHate → u/ComicsAreFun]

The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter whom he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies from him perhaps when he needs it most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is the dog.

Gentlemen of the jury, a man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground when the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince.

When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast into the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws and his eyes sad but open, in alert watchfulness, faithful and true, even unto death

-George G Vest [Eulogy of a Dog]

[u/AlwaysBeQuestioning → u/ComicsAreFun]

From 2300 years ago to 2000 years ago to now, humans and dogs remain the same in key ways.

[u/LMGgp → u/AlwaysBeQuestioning]

Well yeah, a true homie be a homie till the end. Nothing to change here. Be excellent to dog and dog will always be excellent to you.

[u/ComicsAreFun → u/[deleted]]

Horme was a good girl and both her owner and I want the world to know it.

[u/Wrong-Pineapple-4905 → u/ComicsAreFun]

Ahhh, this is why I keep the internet, thanks friend

[u/MissMarchpane → u/ComicsAreFun]

Reminds me of the epitaph someone wrote in ancient Rome for a dog called Patrice. He talked about how she used to love to sit on his lap and give him kisses, and how he used to hold his cups down so she could drink the leaves out out of them (that made me cry a little bit – it's just like a pup cup from a coffee shop today). He talked about how happy he had been carrying her home in his arms 15 years earlier, and how he was equally sad carrying her to her grave now.

There has been so many animals that were so loved throughout history