Panther Abolishes Prejudice

This is a fable to teach the reader that racism is wrong, an allegory using dogs to symbolize the foolishness and also the loyalty of some humans.

There was once was a wonderful dog town in England named Brittany. It was ethnically and culturally diverse; a place where all dog breeds loved each other and got along splendidly. Well everyone except for one big dog.  He was an older, white German Shepherd named Mr. Dave.   

Mr. Dave was a foul-mouthed, contemptible, white haired dog. No other dog in town would get along with him. Whenever he saw other dogs in town that did not have white hair, he would raise his steep voice and swear and fling the most despicable names at them. He had thought that other colored dogs were dirty, useless and foolish; unlike him and the other white haired dogs were mature, smart and formal. He was filled with hate, and over the years it became his only mode of communication. For the most part he would stay to himself, on his farm, chasing after small rats for food, and drawing water from his well. On occasions, he would see other colored dogs, and he would greet them with the usual slur or slander. Meanwhile, he would formally greet other dogs that had white hair, and they would greet him back, but inside they despite his attitude towards everyone else.

The dogs in town were a kind and tolerant group, but over time no one could stand Mr. Dave's presence and racism; so for the most part they stayed out of his way and ignored him.

One summer, the kind and tolerant town of Brittany decided to adopt a young black orphan, miniature pincher, named Panther. After living in the town for a while, it happened that one day, Panther got lost and stopped at Mr. Dave's farm. Upon seeing the black mini pin, of course Mr. Racist immediately showered him with the most offensive of accusation. But as Panther was raised in the kind and tolerant town of Brittany, the black mini pin didn’t even know how to be offended by these racist remarks. He found Mr. Dave highly entertaining, and found it all to be a quirky amusement. And so Panther began to come by Mr. Dave’s farm more often. 

Every time the black mini pin visited, Mr. Dave would criticize him with hated speeches. Until one day, Mr. Dave asked the mini pin, “Hey, you lazy piece of dark mutt, why do you come here so much?”

“I like you Mr. Dave. You make me laugh.” Panther answered.

While Mr. Dave’s brain is filled with animosity, he could never express it, it was clear that he was growing fond of Panther. After all, this little black mini pin was the only one who enjoyed his company. Every other dog in the town ignored or ridiculed him. So Mr. Dave ignored his usual appearance and continued his fussing to the other colored dogs.

And so it became a routine that the young black mini pin would stop by and while Mr. Dave would rant and fuss about the farm, filling the air with the foulest of abusive language, the little black mini pin would lie on the porch and giggle at Mr. Dave's foolishness.

Then one day, Panther came to Mr. Dave’s farm for is daily visit and found that Mr. Dave was very ill. He has not left his bed nor eaten in three days.  Panther was worried that Mr. Dave would die if he doesn’t take him to town to see a doctor, but Panther soon realized that he lacked the strength as a miniature pincher, to get Mr. Dave out of his bed and to carry him to town himself.

“What Should I do?” he thought to himself. Since Mr. Dave had always thought the black mini pin was inferior and always degraded him, when Panther had left Mr. Dave’s farm to get help, Mr. Dave had thought that Panther had left him there to die for good.

When Panther got to the center of town he saw a white female Golden Retriever walking down the street. He ran to get her attention, "Ms. Golden Retriever, please come and help Mr. Dave, he is very sick."

The Golden Retriever, who had long ago tuned out of Mr. Dave’s taunts, paid no attention to the little mini pin.

Then Panther saw a brown poodle couple and tried to ask them for help, "Please help Mr. Dave, he is very sick and has not eaten in a few days, he needs to see a doctor!”

The female poodle, who was oddly aggressive, bluntly told the little mini pin, “Mr. Dave needs to get some self-respect and change his attitude towards other colored dogs, then maybe he will get some help,” and the couple turned and walked away carelessly.

Panther continued to search for help, then he spotted a black Labrador down the street, who was new in town, and Panther begged him to come and help Mr. Dave.

The black Labrador, who has not yet come across Mr. Dave’s offensive remarks, immediately agreed to help without hesitation. He followed the little mini pin to Mr. Dave’s farm.  They helped him out of his bed and took him to see a doctor. 

After Mr. Dave got better, he realized that the hate which had long taken control of his heart would not allow him to harness language in a way that was inoffensive to the kind and tolerant people of Brittany. This had led to the reason why no one in the town ever listened to Mr. Dave and they would not help him when he needed them.  But in the end, the black dogs have saved his life despite his racist remarks and hatred for the negro dogs. 

Eventually Mr. Dave started to change his attitude and learned how to get a long with all the different colored dogs in town.  And so, it turned out that the little town of Brittany had rid themselves of racism and Mr. Dave had opened his heart to everyone, and so Panther is the one that saves his life, not just from dying, but also from prejudice.