I was in a dream, there’s no doubt about it.
A huge boa-cocodrile wants to eat me. I stand frozen, watching it as the human morsel it has just gobbled up seems to be indigestible. I really don’t want to leave, and I’m afraid it might attack my little dog Indi, who is just a few meters away.
Then, the magician interrupts the scene, as if it were a theatrical act even though I felt it was very real, berating me for not using my powers and tempting me to use a ring or bracelet to channel them.
I ignore her and flee the scene. At my side runs a black cat with a white stripe down the middle who, though I don’t know her rationally, I know shares Indi’s spirit. I am also accompanied by a familiar man who urges me not to believe in gadgets, reminding me that the real magic lies in oneself. As he explains this to me, we realize that the cat has disappeared and nervously set out to look for her.
A few moments later, which, nevertheless, seem like an eternity, we find the cat on her back and, on her belly, a medium-sized black dog that looks like it is going to eat her entrails rests its snout and head on her belly. A white shaggy dog accompanies it. I run in horror to try to save my cat by roughly pulling the animal away from my friend, only to discover that the poor creature is not actually trying to feast, but is taking advantage of the warmth offered by my kitten’s lap to soothe his poor mutilated and bloody ear. I also discover a gaping wound on the white side of his woolly companion.
The familiar-looking man urges me to do something and we rush off to a nearby veterinary clinic. We leave the animals to be treated and the man tells me that for ten years, his son had been saving up and with the money he made, he paid for various treatment of several animals.
I wake up. I know there’s something I’m not doing right if I haven’t been able to instill in my own son the value of generosity, and instead we just buy stickers.
We can all change.
We can all do better.
Ghandi once said that the value of a society is recognized in the way it treats animals. We believe that small gestures are what end up moving mountains in the end, and the Apasos Animal Protection Association in Vitoria-Gasteiz would certainly appreciate it if you could help them cover veterinary and treatment costs:
Kutxabank Vital: ES83 2095 3160 16 1090421115
Santander: ES71 0049 4543 91 2310049471
We are sure that all those we help will thank you.
Thank you for your donation.
(Text and illustrations: Raúl Montero Gilete)
