No Big Deal, It’s Just a Dog
How many times have we all heard someone say, “No big deal, It’s Just A Dog?” If you are like me, you wonder what they really mean when they say it!
Many people look at our four-footed friends and say, “It’s just a dog” … and in most cases that’s OK. When they say it, it’s just because they simply have never had a dog in their life.
Some of the population only sees a dog as an animal that is used to guard a home from burglars, or used as a workout buddy, or as a babysitter for the kids, or as an accessory for movie stars and millionaires.
On the other hand the phrase “It’s Just a Dog” scares me a bit. And it is the reason our animal shelters and rescues are filled to capacity most of the time. I say this because these are the people who say it and really mean, “It’s just another thing that I own.”  These are the people that, once the newness is gone the dog is simply cast aside like a worn out pair of shoes or a torn coat. Most “Just a Dog’s” are left outside in the yard or kept in a small kennel with barely enough to eat, little or no shelter and very little (if any) human contact. In the worst-case scenario, these kinds of people drive them out into the countryside and dump them by the side of the road miles from home. They are left to fend for themselves. But theses aren’t the worst “It’s Just a Dog” people. Not by a long shot!
There is one more group of people that say, “It’s Just a Dog”. They are the ones who see nothing wrong with abusing dogs. They are the ones who hit, kick, fight, shoot and take pleasure from inflecting abuse.
This group of people has no respect for life, human or otherwise. They use and treat dogs like property. They use them up, throw them away like trash, and then get more. The really scary part is that a lot of these people are children under the age of 18. A study of children who have been convicted and treated for animal abuse issues are almost 3 times as likely to commit violent crimes after they reach the age of 18. (Source: Juvenal Justice Newsletter)
It is up to use to spend time and teach children from a very early age. They must learn that animals are not things that can or should be abused. The study showed that incidents of abuse started as early as the age of three.
It’s up to us. The ones who never say, “It’s Just a Dog” … We are the ones that know and respect what dog’s can do. We are the ones that need to educate those who do not know that there is no such thing as “Just a Dog”.
Please support the Iowa Dog Trust and other organizations like us. With your help, we can all make a difference.

Related articles