Too little Progress

 "A great man is hard on himself, a small man is hard on others." Confucius "The paradise of the rich is made of the hell of the poor." Aldous Huxley.       Not looking forward to the feast of sacrifice, all that screaming of sheep and seeing children taking their future meal for a walk. Do they understand its a living creature that suffers anxiety, stress, fear? Not my impression seeing those who were brought up without empathy, believe it is okay to abuse a cat or dog, pets are just a toy at the most. I am grateful my parents never bought a sheep, brought it to our house to be fed for approximately a week before slaughtering. I don't eat anything with a face and already as a child refused to eate an animal that I have seen alive before. Am I too sensitive? I am not the only one, thank heaven for that. Anyhow, at present there 38,000 sacrificial sheep available, it is estimated that 45,000 to 48,000 are required to meet the demand. Not a problem according to the government, prices are likely to rise by 10 to 15%. Some will be overspending, buying a sheep rather than just a piece of meat. Kids and other family members not understanding that it is wrong to put a lot of pressure on Daddy to buy a sheep like others do..... maybe they also can't really afford this, but watch and copy what you are doing. Reminds me of a cartoon: a man sitting in prison with a heavy iron ball chained to his leg, saying that he is the Johnson everybody is trying to keep up with. In the past some poor folks knocked at our door, asking politely or even demanding, a lump of sheep. The answer surprised them, we don't buy and don't slaughter sheep. The only one I would eat would be a cake shaped like a lamb or consisting of chocolate or marzipan, also okay as a soft toy. Not what folks what to hear around here, sorry, or not sorry. - Djego, our approximately 10 months old puppy, doesn't like cats, in particular not so many and not kittens that don't respect him. Further, we unfortunately don't have a garden where he could play and relax, no car to perhaps take him to the beech, no park etc. near by and one must bear in mind that he's a guard dog. So we were looking for someone with a plantation or a farm and experienced dog holder, no sale but a good home, all we want. (His breeding is not cheap in Europe). Two guys seemed to be interested, but not in a hurry, typical Tunisian style. Anyhow, a farmer who keeps sheep, turned up one morning to take our golden coloured little treasure. Two persons from the neighborhood said they know the farmer and we can trust him. I packed all Djego's personal belongings: expandable lead, muzzle, harness, warm vest for cold days, blanket, toy, bones from the pet shop, salami sausages for dogs, his vaccination book (twice fully vaccinated) and he was of course wearing a good quality collar. This happened on 11th of June. We decided to see for ourselves one day whether Djego is okay, but first give him a chance to integrate. In the meantime my husband phoned and was advised that our darling is doing fine, accepts his new home and family, sheep instead of cats. On the 19th of June a young girl knocked at our door at 9.00 p. m. She had discovered Djego at a distance of 10 minutes walk and managed to bring him back, without a lead or a collar, but our house was obviously where he wanted to go anyhow. Djego has lost weight, got neary run over by a car, (it was very hot outside) was very hungry and thirsty, shaking (still does), nervous, with fleas and he has lost trust. What happened? Did he run away, manage to find his way back home, covering approx. 15 km? Why weren't we informed? It took a while to get a reply from the farmer. His story: Djego ran away together with another lovely dog, it wasn't noticed straight away and they tried to find the dogs, therefore didn't contact us. Why wasn't Djego wearing his collar? Was he ashamed to be outside on the road wearing a collar, which shows he's not a stray dog? Or did the farmer remove it so noone seeing him on the road would wonder why he is there? Did the farmer throw him out because he couldn't sell him or was he worried Djego may get depressed seeing the sheep disappear (to be slaughtered) that he was told to protect? This is the land of many fairy tales. For days we are trying now to get Djego's items returned. We haven't got the means to buy everthing again, besides, why should it be necessary? It all adds up to approx. 300 Dinar. We keep hearing tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. I am running out of patience. Had enough of being fooled around. Guess we have to pay the farmer a visit and if need be report him to the public prosecutor's office. My husband took Djego for a walk the other day. While he barks a lot indoors (in particular when it's very loud outside), on the road he is more like a sheep and quickly wants to get indoors again. Having suffered a lot on the road, he feels safer inside our house, the internal terrace. Anyhow, a young girl seeing Djego walking on a lead, asked my husband to please not put him out on the road......... we have no intention to do this and note happily her empathy. Great girl, we need more children like her for a better world.