Anybody who owns a dog knows just how close animal-canine relationships can be. Our dogs are our most loyal friends and confidantes and we reward them for that with treats, cuddles and our undying love. Still, it seems a little bit lopsided. We still get to see so much more of the world than our furry companions do and there’s something about that gnaws at the conscience of every conscientious dog owner.
It’s perhaps for these reasons that an apocryphal story about a dog-friendly hotel has recently been making the rounds on the internet.
The story has been covered by many different viral news outlets and begins with a well-intentioned man writing a letter to a hotel, which goes like this:
“I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well-groomed and very well behaved. Would you be willing to permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?”
Fortunately, the hotel in the story has a wry yet accommodating reply ready from the hotel owner himself:
“I’ve been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time, I’ve never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware or pictures off the walls. I’ve never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. And I’ve never had a dog run out on a hotel bill. Yes, indeed, your dog is welcome to stay at my hotel. And, if your dog will vouch for you, you’re welcome to stay here too.”
It’s not hard to see the appeal of this story, but unfortunately, these events did not actually occur.
This fictional exchange of letters is actually an old joke out of several books, namely A Laugh a Day: Jokes to Keep the Doctor Away by Anne Jasiekiewicz and The Little Black Book of Dog Jokes by Suzanne Schwalb, among others. Still, the popularity of the story raises some questions about how we treat animals. The hotel owner in the story has a point about our dogs: often, they are nothing but kind-hearted creatures and yet we treat them like second-class citizens everywhere we go. With that in mind, make sure you give your dog a huge hug this evening for being the best buddy you could ever have.
And maybe consider a dog-friendly hotel the next time you make travel plans!
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