An original poem written in honor of the XL Bully’s in the United Kingdom and all the angels that heaven will gain far too soon. May you rest in the sweetest of paradise, and may humans change their ways.
Written December 2023
To dog’s best friend,
It’s not my fault.
I didn’t ask for this,
I didn’t choose this,
I wasn’t born like that…
None of us were.
I was born with an endless capacity
of unconditional love and loyalty.
I was born with a pure heart
and an innocent soul.
I was born ready to be taught
how to be the best friend I can be for you…
Most of us learned just that –
We learned how to not only be a good dog,
but the best dog,
We learned how to be there for you
and how to listen to you,
We learned right from wrong
and we learned love is always the answer,
We learned our kisses are loved
and our snuggles are cherished,
We learned to channel our energy,
loving every second of playing with you
and every second of zoomies,
We learned to behave in a way that makes us and our humans happy
because we were TAUGHT to live in the love that makes up every inch of our being.
But just like humans,
We weren’t all raised with love,
the few we lost were raised with hate, anger, betrayal, and fear;
they were TAUGHT aggression…
And now, we lose hundreds of good boys and girls that have been wrongfully given their death sentence.
For those of us that make it out alive,
the life we knew becomes an angel too.
Our freedoms stripped
as easily as the paint on an old abandoned house.
We don’t understand why…
Why we can’t run free anymore,
Why we can’t chase our favorite ball,
Why we can’t dive in the lake,
Why we can’t pick up that stick,
Why we can’t give slobbery kisses to old and new friends,
Why we can’t even eat a pup cup in the car anymore.
We don’t understand why
you’re teaching us that we’re bad
when all you and I ever wanted was for us to be good.
We don’t understand why
we have to die for the sins of few
when the actions of humans
are responsible for our actions,
But we’re still sorry
because we love our humans
and no matter how bad the baddest dog is,
all they ever wanted was to be good…
All they ever wanted was love.
It’s not our fault.
We didn’t ask for this,
We didn’t choose this,
We would change it
if you would just give us the chance.
No dogs are bad dogs
but some owners are bad owners,
change can be made
without death holding the leash,
but good humans have to lead the way
and by your side all us good dogs will stay.
With unconditional love,
The Bully Breeds of the world
#dontbullymybreed
