target audience = me

Pedigree, the dog food brand, has been running an ad campaign to promote their dog-adoption drive. There are several that focus on individual dogs in shelters (all have since been adopted, I learned on the website). One ad, however, gets me every time. It shows several dogs in shelter pens, most with that typical kind of confused look that dogs tend to have, with a voice-over of the dogs' shared internal monologue.

I can't remember it verbatim, but it ends, "I don't know how I got here. I just know I'm a good dog, and I want to go home."

AUGH! Heart...knotting...need...doggy...

(The pup above, by the way, is a Scotch terrier mix named Oatmeal, also now happily ensconced in a loving home.)

Look, I'm not a psychotic activist with an all-consuming passion for the fauna of our world; Lord knows I've yet to meet a spider I don't wish dead several times over. However, I've lived for too long in pet-prohibited buildings, and I feel, very strongly, that lacking something that comes from having a furry little face to greet me at the door. I always had a dog growing up, and as soon as I'm allowed, I will always have pets from this point forward. For a little food and shelter, we get unconditional love, and I can think of few things more wonderfully solid in our increasingly disconnected electronic age.

If you feel so inclined, you can donate to the adoption campaign at Pedigree's site. Or spread the word to friends who are looking for pets, or just give your own furry companion an extra scratch behind the ears or belly rub. They should know just how lucky they are, and I think you should too.