Watch Chicago Chain Off Video: Wind, Rain, Hail=Chained Hell

Updates are pouring in, and we will be working all week to get them up, along with photos and articles from our chainees. In the meantime, please watch our video from Chicago's Main Event, and read the poem, written by Gordon Bakalar, that had me crying as I read it in the Chain Off Opening Ceremonies.



TOUGH LOVE / Chained

I am a dog with a story to tell
A dog on a chain, my life a living hell.

I was unlucky enough to be born in a “mill”
Though they passed new laws, it’s probably there still.

I was born in a small wire pen
Along with my brothers, six of us kin.

We were not kept together for very long
Before taken to auction and sold for a song.

Sold to a pet store, my home a glass cage
I was one of those designer dogs, “all of the rage.”

So again I was sold in about a week
Little did I know it was “up the creek.”

I was bought for a Christmas present for the kids
But that didn’t last long before I hit the skids.

At first it was a happy and playful time
I lived in a big house, everything was fine.

Played with two children, my master and his wife
This was the greatest, this was the life.

But then all of a sudden things got real hard
I was thrown outside to live in the yard.

Maybe it’s because I do shed a little
Or once on the rug I did a little piddle.

No explanation and no reason why
All night alone I would whimper and cry.

When the sun came up I barked all day
But no one, not even the kids, came out to play.

I’ve grown a little older now living on a chain
They say I’m too big for the house, too much trouble to train.

This is my story, and my lament
I'm nothing more than a lawn ornament.

I’ve been waiting for my master for close to 15 years
Tied in the back yard, choking back my tears.

I hope you think of me when you see a dog on a chain
And know that dog is lonely, hurting, and in pain.

Maybe you’ll even stop a while and pat him on his head
Or just sit beside him and talk to him instead.

If you stay long enough to say a friendly word
It’s sure to be a kindness that for years he’s never heard.

\When you see a chained dog and know of his plight
You'll know in your heart and mind, it just ain’t right.

By Gordon Bakalar, erikabak@msn.com