Tearjerky Dog Rescue Video Offers Lessons on Humanity

With this viral video, sales of Kleenex are going to go through the roof, people will weep so much.

Fiona the suddenly famous dog being rescued by
Paws for Hope. Video of the rescue has gone viral.

A group called Paws For Hope, puts out a lot of YouTube videos showing volunteers rescuing dogs from harrowing situations, getting the dogs back to good health, and putting them up for adoption in homes where all those Fidos will live out their lives loved, well fed, safe and cared for.

One of their latest videos is probably their most effective, as it has a perfect alchemy of tragedy, redemption and a happy ending. The video is all over the blogosphere, and is now invading he MSM.

The group rescued a dog named Fiona from squalor near what looks like abandoned buildings. Fiona was hungry, blind and scared out of her mind.

A veterinarian performed surgery to restore vision in one of Fiona's eyes. They cleaned Fiona up, helped her trust people again, brought her back to tail wagging, playful happiness  and found a nice loving home for her, all against a backdrop of emotional music. It's classic storytelling.

Here's the video, if you have your Kleenex handy:





Meanwhile, here in St. Albans, Vermont, our cocker spaniel Jackson has now lived with us for nearly nine months, and of course living with a dog for the first time in decades changes your perspective on dogs and their lovability.

I'd always been horrified at how people can abuse and abandon dogs like Fiona, but even more so now that I've had Jackson in my life. The little guy lives to play, and he'll be damned if you do anything else besides play and be happy.

When Jackson knows I'm getting ready to leave to go to work, he gets more insistent. "No,!" he seems to say. You have to keep having fun. (By the way, the ever inquisitive, troublemaking Jackson is very familiar with the word 'No.')

So you have to be a pretty miserable person to want to try to erase the natural happiness in dogs. And Jackson has turned me into a more playful person, which is always a good thing.

I've long complained that people get more upset when animals are abused and killed than when people are abused and killed.

I still feel that way, but maybe stories like Fiona's can inspire just a couple awful people to not hurt any animals, and extend that little bit of compassion toward our fellow humans.

With all the nastiness in the world, we need dogs like Fiona and Jackson to put humanity on a peaceful, playful path.