Dog day afternoon

35 C (95 F) in the shade and the mercury was still inching upwards when I took this shot.

An enterprising homeless man threw a beach towel onto the pavement for his dog named Bonhomme to lie on and put up a sign next to him saying, "I'll pose for you. Thank you."

Although I felt it all looked a bit too contrived comapred to this, I know that the homeless need to do whatever they can to survive in the heat of summer, not just the cold of winter.

Our dog is sprawled on a cool tile floor, hogging the fan, as I write this. She's a lucky girl, and so am I.



Postscript:

Just to clarify - it was only Bonhomme's pose that I thought was too 'contrived,' nothing else.

If anything, it was a sign that the dog was well-trained and could strike various amusing poses on command. The dog's owner had written a courteous sign in 3 languages. He was not pressuring passersby for donations, although there were far more people sneaking shots for free than there were people who dropped spare change in the bag. The white plastic bowl next to Bonhomme was full of clean water to drink, and he was healthy, well-groomed, and beautifully behaved.

I go out of my way to speak to a homeless person with a dog, and if I have some money on me, I give whatever I can spare. The homeless people I've met with dogs (or cats) shower them with great affection and care. On the other hand, I know many well-off people who neglect their expensive pedigree dogs and leave them in the hands of dog walkers, groomers and, increasingly, behavioural therapists.

No one chooses to be homeless. Having no money or nowhere to live doesn't mean one has has no love to give an animal companion.