Animal Lover

I catch sight of him when I enter the pet store. Like me, I think he is just another mall shopper lured in by the sight of puppies. But I can tell something about him right away. He looks like a jerk. I don't know what it is about him. He just looks like one.

As soon as I make that conclusion that was based on nothing but intuition, I see him make his way to the pen of a husky. Its sleeping, like a lot of the other puppies at the store. The ones that are awake seem playful. Birds are chirping and rabbits huddle around the water dispenser.

He pets the dog and it doesn't respond. It's sleeping after all. It's a baby stuck in this glass pen in a mall and it wants this human to go away. There's a sign on each of the pens that say a staff member was be called over before picking the dogs up, but the man pays no heed. His love for animals will not be stopped by a mere unenthusiastic puppy. He picks it up, gives it a playful shake (at least I think he thought it was playful), and lets go. The dog flickers its eyes and slumps back onto the floor of the pen.

This enrages the animal lover, so he raps the side of the pen. Whap whap whap! He does this and speaks in a cutesy voice that is supposed to make this puppy jump up and lick his face. But the dog pays no mind. It just wants to sleep.

I make the rounds, looking at all the animals. They are very cute and also expensive. I'd probably never buy one. If I ever felt I was up to the task of caring for a dog, I'd like to think I would get a shelter dog. As I leave, I hear the animal lover still rapping on the glass. And I hope the husky wakes up and bites him.