Empathy

As I sit here listening to "my" dog bark and whine because he wants in the house for the 2nd time within an hour, my mind is in deep concentration about something. I do not understand how a person, meaning me, can cry from reading a story about people I don't know, from watching a movie that most would consider a little sad and/or a little happy and even commercials leaving me feeling like the wimpiest person alive. Yet, with all this empathy that just pours out of me for all these people I know nothing about, and most aren't even real I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would want a pet. I REALLY do not understand those people who have pets and treat them as if they are people. This boggles my mind. As much as these people boggle my mind, it boggles my mind just as much that I have the feelings or lack of feelings for these animals. Don't get me wrong, I would never harm an animal or sit back and watch one being abused. I have hit, with my car, 2 cats, who are my least favorite of pets, and one hoppy toad. I cried like a baby. I felt so bad and could only think of the poor children who the cats probably belonged to and the hoppy toad, well the poor little thing just didn't stand a chance and why couldn't he just hop faster?
When this dog moves on to doggy heaven, yes I have seen the movie, I make this solemn vow that there will never be another pet in this house. If it weren't for the fact that this dog belonged to my daughter and is 9 years old, and surely must be on it's last leg, I would not have him now. He is not a bad dog. He is a good dog for the most part. I do not understand how he can see the same postman 6 days a week at the same time, pull up to our mailbox, put mail into it and then drive off and think that he has to bark at him like he is protecting us. Now mind you that if that same mailman were to get out of his mail truck to deliver something to the door, the moment he walked on to the top step coming into our yard, the dog would not only stop barking, but begin to wag his tail and jump and carry on until the mailman pets him. Does this make sense to anyone else. I would love to understand this.
When I go to the door to let him out he jumps around like a prancing horse as if I'm going to forget about him, if he doesn't do the horse prance, and not let him out when I have said to him "okay" and he knows that is the whole purpose in going to the door. He will also stick his nose in the screen door as soon as I begin to open it and pull it open out of my hands, which to me is like a defiant child with no patience, when I go to let him in.
Oh yeah, and is it just me or do most others believe that people who "dress" their animals in "cute" clothes ought to be locked up in "cute" foam rooms? They have fur ... it's there for a reason. It seems like mostly old people do this. Makes me want to get an old woman who does this to her dog and is also going through menopause, which I am, and wait for a bad hot flash and decide to put a cute little pink sweater on her. God made these animals with fur for a reason...THEY DON'T NEED CLOTHES!!!

Okay, I think I am done. Rest assured that if I ever get the chance to buy some property it will be far enough away from any animals and there will not be any allowed on my property. Unless they are deer and someone is coming to hunt them!!!

These feelings make me feel like an awful and mean person. Do you think that maybe God gave me so much empathy for humans that there was none left for animals? Just to point out that I also know someone who would step over a dying person, if they didn't like them, but has crawled into a sewer to rescue a whimpering dog. So maybe I got her empathy for humans and she got mine for the animals? HMMM ... is this possible?