Because you need this
by digby
It's a beautiful story of humans and their animal friends by Glenn Greenwald called
HOW DOGS FORGE A BOND WITH RIO’S HOMELESS THAT IS LIFE-SAVING FOR BOTH
Karollyne from Field Of Vision on Vimeo.
AS IS TRUE OF SO MANY CITIES in the Western world, there are thousands of homeless people living on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, the second-largest city in Brazil. They include families, children, solitary men and women, the old and the young. Many have been homeless for years with little prospect of an exit, especially now that the country faces worsening economic distress, met with often-cruel austerity measures. Homeless people are abundant in most neighborhoods, including the upscale ones most frequented by tourists.
Homelessness in Rio is, in many ways, virtually identical to how it manifests in other large cities: It entails unimaginable material and emotional deprivation, hopelessness, societal invisibility, and utter isolation. But one aspect of Rio’s homeless population stands out: A huge number of them have dogs that were previously living as desperate, unwanted strays on the street.
Many have lived on the street with their dogs for years. They care for them as well as, and in many cases better than, the average middle-class family with a pet. The profound bond that forms between them is like nothing else one will find, and is thus deeply revealing.
Read on ...
To immerse oneself in this phenomenon is to learn about the human capacity for empathy and self-sacrifice even in the most severe states of distress ...
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