Punk à Chien

So for Valentine's Day, I am going to profess my love

My biological clock is ticking. It is time for me to settle down- pick a city, invest in a flat, get a real job with a normal schedule, and>>> get a puppy!

Off and on for the past 24 and a half years of my life, I have had some sort of bread of at least one dog in my presence. It has been over 12 months- which is pretty much the longest time I have gone sans puppy love.

I live in France. Signs of puppies/dogs/chiens are everywhere- whether it be the clothing boutiques that provide that French elegance and sophistication for pups big and small or random piles I make my job to avoid each day while walking the streets.

Even the beggars get puppies. I know, I know= I shouldn't be fantasizing about having one of these since I am in no place to own one nor take care of one. This is a lesson from the past that I have learned. My track record with dogs isn't so great... and I know I shouldn't boast about this. I am not posting this to brag, but rather to remind myself that I should not have a puppy right now.

Graduation from high school:
Darla was the first pug I got. She was my graduation present. My mom brought her to school to surprise me. She was so tiny that she fit in just one hand. It was the happiest moment ever. Then my future roommate informed me that she did not want a dog (after we had already discussed the possibility of having a puppy and she was all for it). My mom offered to care for her during my freshman year of school. Instead my mom decided she wanted more pug puppies and played match maker to some other pug. She barely reached one year when my mom called me at school to tell me the "great news." Unfortunately, Darla did not make it through delivery and only one puppy survive... named Skoshi (who was the runt of the litter... and who later became the fattest pug that I have ever seen).

University:
Elliot, the sweetest spunkiest black pug ever. We shared personalities. He loved to wear clothes and enjoyed twirling in circles biting the air. One afternoon, he disappeared from my front lawn and was never seen on Mimosa again.

Korea:
Penelope was just a baby. I bought her from a pet shop off somewhere in Chungmurro. This will be the last time I every purchase any animal from a pet shop. She was ill with parvo and only spent two weeks with me.

Anywho... I have been so tempted to linger around McDonalds and Galerie LaFayette where I am sure to find someone with a dog. In France, there is a certain group of people, called punk-à-chien, who hang out on the streets and beg for money and cigarettes. I guess they could be homeless... I am not sure. They all have dogs whose ribs stick out and they are tied on ropes. They aren't treated very nicely. In fact, as I have been informed (not sure if this is 100 percent), they supposedly have these dogs, not for companionship, but rather to keep them out of jail. In France, if you have are living on the streets, but own a dog, the police will be less likely to arrest you and put you in jail, because they have insufficient housing for the dogs.

This leads to a lot of animal abuse.

It truly breaks my heart each time I see these poor dogs. If I could start an NGO in France, it would be a dog protection housing. If only I had sufficient space and more time in France to save them... one puppy at a time.

In the meantime, my friend Kate, who shares the same adoration for dogs as me, and I have talked about how we could spend our free time by starting our own dog walking business. haha

The ideas of a 7 year old trying to make a quick buck to go to the toy store to get that new Barbie transferring to two animal loves who are sadly deprived while living abroad. However, our desire to do such a thing is much deeper than money. We simply just want to hang out with puppies and since most French women are pretty particular about people around their dogs, this seems to be the only way we could do this.

The way to my heart is with puppies... particularly pugs.