Treated Like A Dog
By Kimberly Faye Dooley
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

When one is treated badly, there's a title that is used.

He's “treated like a dog” which mostly means he's been abused.

I'm glad I didn't live when people coined this phrase back then,

Cause now most people realize that they mis-treated them.

It used to be they didn't think dog's feelings were like ours.

Or that they couldn't feel pain you could stomp their feet for hours.

A cage was “fine” for their whole life, they didn't need to play.

For every week locked in that cage they'd earned an outside day.

Most owners now would tell you that their pets are more like kids.

They eat, they play and further more they never shut their lids.

You cannot anthropomorphize to scientists today.

That means dogs don't get happy, sad or lonely anyway.

Now anyone who's owned a pet or two would gladly state

That dogs get sad especially when they have lost their mate.

And that they get excited when you show you want to play.

It's more than reflex that their temper differs day to day.

I don't think that they're spoiled when they get what they deserve.

It's no more than I ask for, and the same purpose we serve.

So next time you say “treated like a dog” just keep in mind.

There's something wrong with you if you mean anything but kind.