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Shaking dogs, cats and armadillos have become a thing of
fashion lately in Tel Aviv. Many of them are to be found in cars, on top
of computer monitors and just shaking away in offices and homes all over
the metropolitan. But, not many people know the hard and sometimes sad
facts of shaking creatures lives.
Shaking Dog and Little Red Thingie are two of these creatures. In their life story we can find elements reassembling many of their brothers and sisters across the country. Life of involuntary travel, hard work and sometimes - pointless brutality.
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| Shaking Dog woke up one morning to find his body missing. Says Roman, his owner "One day I came to the office (Where Shaking Dog lives - S.R) to find Shaking Dog body less. I thought one of the cleaners might have dropped it by mistake, but it was no where to be found." Shaking Dog was, of course, horrified with fear. "I couldn't feel my heart beats , I was so scared. I couldn't move, I couldn't even think. It was terrible". Roman placed adds in different languages saying "Please return my body", but to no avail. For over a week Shaking Dog remained body less. When things seemed like all hope to find the body was gone, Roman found the body beneath his desk "Somebody had put it there so I would think it was there all the time, but I know this was no mistake - the body had a paper clipper shoved in its neck base. I thought I would explode - who would do such a thing?". Now, a few weeks after this event, Shaking Dog is still afraid at night "A friend of mine, who is a house pet, had a cockroach lay an egg on his forehead a few days ago. His forehead just fell off. By the time his owner arrived it was too late. Roman and I are moving firms now, and I must say it makes me feel a hell of a lot better getting away from this place. Still, you never know what kind of people you would meet in the new place.." |  |
| Shaking Dog has now taken the chairman sit at SAAB (shaking animals association base). This association helps shaking animals from all over the country unite and fight for better employment conditions and right enforced by law. They even got the Knesseth's attention. Says Little Red Thingie, a shaking armadillo "Never before have I felt so protected and cared for. Once the Knesseth's chairman, Mr. Avraham Burg, shook my hand I knew I had an ear". Many Knesseth members now joined the growing "shaking lobby" (as they like to call it). "We will make a difference" says Shaking Dog "Long working hours, constant physical fear, no medical insurance - It is high time we make a difference in this country in the way shaking animals are looked at and treated. By the time we're done our quest, no shaking animal will be left all night in the heat of a parking car". Law drafts, medical insurance plans and shorter working hours are just a portion of their claims. "Each time I see a wounded shaking cat, a computer monitor radiation struck armadillo or a baby shaking turtle working 12 hours a day I say to myself - soon, very soon this will all be a thing of the past. Once we get to the public, once we achieve critical mass, we will finally become true members of society. All around the world shaking animals are coming to terms with themselves. I am full of hope for a better future. I know my kids, when I have them, will live in a better place, and that thought helps me go on. I know one day shaking animals will roam this world, happy, healthy and above all - free". |  |