Animals – Being Neglected or Killed
Animal neglect in dreams is a common theme
Such neglect usually shows how we misunderstand our own basic needs. After all we are an animal, with all the needs for care, sexual expression, affection, shelter and food. Considering how much society makes such needs and meeting them terrible difficult, it is no wonder we dream of neglecting or torturing our animal. Remember that our body is an vary ancient thing, and in its growth went through all the stages of life from a tiny cell, an amphibious creature, toward humanness. So in meeting such dreams we need to treat our animal with care and love. This can be done by visualising the animal and creating a different feeling and situation in your imagination. This will gradually change the dreams or neglect.
In the example below, Lynda’s feelings show how she senses what she is doing to her inner nature, but she dismisses this by convincing herself such feelings are not ‘true’. But we have a responsibility to care for our animal drives, to see our sexual, nutritional and body needs are met, and the neglected animal shows us failing in this.
Example: ‘I am given an animal to look after, usually somebody’s pet while they are away on holiday. I then completely forget the animal, go away and when I return the animal is either dead or very dried up or has been got at by another animal and is in the throws of dying. When I wake from the dream I feel most dreadful and it is only when I am fully awake and realise it is not true do I feel better.’ Lynda E.
Example: “I am your child and your mother. They call me the ‘connecting animal’ because I connect people, animals, and even stone’s with one another if I enter them. I am your fate or the ‘objective I.’ When I appear, I redeem you from the meaningless hazards of life. The fire burning inside me burns in the whole of nature. If a person loses it, they become egocentric, lonely, disoriented, and weak.”
Example: As I walked the meadow my dog was running free. I felt I must call him to heal, as there were grazing animals about. I called him and saw him coming, almost wraith like, or like a spirit form, shadowy and powerful looking. He was running behind a wonderful looking beast – a mixture between a sheep a gazelle and a deer. The remarkable thing about it was its colouring. There were bright blues on its hindquarters, and radiant almost transparent colours elsewhere, perhaps on its head. I shouted to stop my dog frightening the creature. The creature ran towards me and jumped into my arms, very fearful, but relaxing and feeling safe as I held it. I could sense its emotions of terror. I seemed to feel what it was feeling inside. It was a creature without any means of defence except to run. So, it was frightened for its life. This sense of its inner condition was impressive as I knew what it was like to be that creature when hunted. I also could feel how it could feel safe in my arms because somehow it was like handing over its defence to a sort of mother, as a baby might.
Often the hurt or terrified dream animal is actually your own feelings as a baby or child. The man in the above dream said, “I seemed to feel what it was feeling inside.” This is a sign that he was feeling his own animal/child feelings. So it would be good to see if you can connect with those feeling in your dream yourself – the feeling of being abandoned, forgotten, in pain, being exposed to abuse, or any of the intense emotions and sensations a child experiences. See Baby and Child – Meeting Them – Programmed – Child – helping and healing
Comments
Hello, I dreamt of a pack of dogs outside my house. They were domestics that had become wild. One lounge away from the pack came close to my back door. It was skin amd bones. Starving. Mangy. It’s left leg wounded and dragging. I opened my door and reached to it. I desparate wanted to help it. Feed it. Heal it. Care for it. In the background in my dream, my husband kept telling me to not let it in. That it was wild and would hurt me. I didn’t listen. I let it in and went to get it water and then I was going to feed it chicken. In non dream life, my husband and I have been in a struggle over what he feels I should and shouldn’t do as im working through chronic illness. We were just arguing that he was stealing my joy from doing something that might wear me out, but that I love to do. I think the loNE dog away from the pack relates to the fact that I’ve been so isolated due to energy from my illness. From your comments I completely see the relevance of this dream. Any other thoughts greatly appreciated.
Hi – It is important that you read https://dreamhawk.com/forums/index.php?topic=529.msg1472#msg1472
Nothing can replace your own ability to understand your dream. With a little effort you can do this by practicing what is described in – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson or http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/getting-at-your-dreams-meaning/
Tony
Dear Susan – The difficulty with your husbands opinions are clear to see on the dream, but he is in the background, meaning you are strong enough to do as you want if you filter out the background.
But the dream also suggests that your natural instinctive self – the dogs – has become abandoned and sick, reflected by your illness. The dogs need your love and care desperately. The dream also suggests diet – the chicken and water. It might be worth trying more of those things. Please see https://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/brain-levels-and-dreams/#mammalbrain and https://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/instinct/
Hello,
My husband had a dream that he saw 4 white horses all lined up in a row under bleachers. All horses were laying on their sides with a gun shot wound in the side. They were alive. He became upset wondering why someone would do this and started calling for help.
Thank you.
I have been having a reacurring night mare but with different animals. We are playing with multiple puppies, kittens or ferrets and I accidentally step on one and squish it. They usually die right away but last nights one suffered. It broke my hearts. All these bad dreams break my heart. You have anything?
Hi. I had this dream recently and it was very disturbing, to the point that I cried when I was trying to remember the events in my dream. I dreamt that there was a small dog in our house, it did not tell where it came from. The dog was happy and running around the house and I also feel happy towards the dog. But without me knowing, I wasnt able to notice that his genitals were tied with something like thread. this is why the dog couldnt pee. He cannot pee and this caused infection. I just noticed that his genitals were tied when he peed with blood and pus. I was very shocked and I felt pity and sorry for the dog and looked for that person who did it. I was angry, I realized that it was my elder brother who did it. I was furious. In reality my brother is a dog lover but he was very rude to me, we always fight when we were kids. He abused me physically and emotionally. Since I was a child up until now that I am 22 i still hold grudge towards him.
Hi – The answers I give arise not out of me thinking up things to say, but from fifty years of exploring dreams in depth. So some of what I write may seem wild. This may be because dreams arise and are experienced by a level of your mind or awareness that very few people have any concept or experience of – usually called the unconscious. So their view of dreams arise from their thinking mind, a very different creature than the thing giving you Life. Life dreamt millions of years before even humankind awoke and developed self awareness – a very young and precocious child. So I try to describe what takes place in the deeps of you.
But it would help you to understand your dreams, if you would read – http://dreamhawk.com/news/summing-up/ and also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/features-found-on-site/ which has so much information in.
Nothing can replace your own ability to understand your dream. With a little effort you can do this by practising what is described in – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPersonor http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/getting-at-your-dreams-meaning/
Tony
Kris – A dog in a dream frequently indicates males sexual feelings. Unfortunately it is almost an instinctive inbuilt urge to make life hell for a brother or sister.
The genitals tied represents something that might well cause you to repress your own sexual urges – maybe because if what your brother set in motion by his treatment.
This may sound crazy, but to be free of whatever the effects of the things he did to you then you need to forgive him. Forgiveness may sometimes be mistaken for an action taken through weakness, or as an act of “goodness” or Christian sentiment. But when understood, forgiveness has the power to transform us, and change the future we are creating out of our attitudes and actions.
As an example of this, some years ago life events led me to face a very painful experience. My wife was living abroad for a while and I did not know when she was coming back. This triggered the release in me of a terror I had kept buried since the age of three. At that time my mother, at the doctor’s suggestion, had sent me away to a convalescent hospital because my health was poor. Unfortunately, because my grandmother had been my prime carer, and had died before I had reached the age of two, I had already experienced great loss. This had left me open to the fear of abandonment. Being at the hospital released this terror that I had been abandoned.
Meeting that terror again in my late 40s was almost more than I could bear. Although the feeling was originally connected with my mother, as usually happens, whoever we love becomes the target for such fears. In meeting these awful feelings, I traced the origin of them back to the events mentioned. But the terrific anger I felt to my mother at exposing me to such unbearable emotions, also spilled over onto my wife.
The anger did not abate and it became obvious that unless I could forgive my mother, I would ruin my marriage with my anger.
It was difficult to find this forgiveness because I felt that what my mother had done was unforgivable. Of course none of this was neatly rational. The feelings were burning beyond reason, and could not be rationalised away. But I could not ignore the fact that this was not, in the end, about my mother, but about me. My continued anger was ruining my life. So for my own sake I had to sincerely forgive my mother. This was not a fast change, and it was not easy. But it did release me from the crippling effects of the anger. And some effects of non-forgiveness in these situations are quite subtle. One might, for instance, avoid success in one’s life so that those close to you could never feel the pleasure or relaxation of that.
I had a dream last night of a beautiful little bird being tortured by some sharp object. The bird was screeching with huge amounts of pain
I keep having bad dreams where calves have been murdered. One where there bodies were all over the floor and I didn’t realise I was treading on them for a while. Another where a man had decapitated several cows, leaving a trail. And last night, I had a dream that calves had been murdered and shoved into holes under the floorboards of a hotel. This stuff is pretty weird but could you tell me what it might mean?
Luna – You have read the feature animals neglected or killed – This shows you killing urges or needs you have that are natural. Mostly this is injurious to your wholeness, but occasionally has to be done to deal with special life situations. The killing might also point to feelings of pain and conflict, as when we kill out something in us that is natural or even beautiful.
I think it would be worth reading http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/brain-levels-and-dreams/ also http://dreamhawk.com/poems/temple-of-the-animals/
You are a mammal, and calves can represent young and dependent children, and cows represent mothering, so you are killing parts of you that are not usually obvious. But those are just words, to get at your inner world of your dream use http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson
Tony
This really did back up what I already had pretty much thought.
Thank you so much for your help!
I had a dream last night that I was going to live with a new family, I was walking down a tunnel and saw a neglected dog. I told the owner that I was going to tell pets protection and they said if you care so much you take him. As I walked with the dog he was very sick, peeing and pooing everywhere. Crying I said to the owners I couldn’t cope to see the dog in such bad shape so I left. As I got to my new family’s house the dog had followed me, me and the new family took the dog to the bet to have him checked out and cleaned up ect, and it turned out to be a cat. End of the dream. I’ve been thinking about it all day and have no idea what my dream means at all. Please help
I had a dream that I was waiting in the hallway and a man pushing a puppy up the stairs telling thee pup heavy up heavy up then grabbing his front paws up in the air pup was yelping minutes later the pup was tossqed from the top floor landing a few inches from me bleeding then the man came back down grab the pup yelling at it to be tossed again I went to check up on the pup me being shocked the man came back down to gran the pup again all along pup tail was still wagging then I woke up ..can you please define this dream …..thanks
Dear Jackie – Because the name Jackie can be both male and female, I have decided to see the “ms” on your email address as an abbreviation for Miss. I cannot define your dream, because you have not shared anything about your waking life. I can give you some idea’s to explore and reflect on though.
What I see in your dream is a form of (self?) torture that might have occurred when you were still a child and that may be still continuing in your inner world and/or with one of your own children.
The man in your dream could reflect a man in your waking life or your inner man – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-animus-jungs-view-of-the-male-in-the-female/ – and your dream figure does nothing to stop him.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/active-passive/
You wrote; “all along pup tail was still wagging”.
Perhaps the most common misinterpretation of dogs is the myth that a dog wagging its tail is happy and friendly. While some wags are indeed associated with happiness, others can mean fear, insecurity, a social challenge or even a warning that if you approach, you are apt to be bitten.
You can explore “the wagging tail” by entering your dream again while awake and by using “Being the pup” http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson
Because the pup may be a symbol of an inner child, it might be helpful to read http://dreamhawk.com/health-and-healing/inner-baby-and-child/
To explore whether this is something that takes place in your inner world “only” or if it is something that takes part in your waking life (too) you could write down anything that you think might have triggered the dream or links with it in some way.
In your inner world you can stop the man from torturing the pup by using http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
See also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/punishment-torture/ and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/sadism-sadist/ and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/masochism/.
Anna 🙂
atleast that is how I felt in the dream.
Dear Deepika – Every image and person in your dreams is an expression of your own life process. As such it is alive and intelligent and is something sent to help you. A dream is like a projection from a movie projector, except that you are the projector.
Everything you see as outside you is coming from you, your emotions, your fears, your beliefs, your joys and explorations and are all you, clothed in the dream images and drama. So when you dream of someone you should not feel you are dreaming about that actual person. As with most dreams, the person in the dream is not the person themselves, but is a collection of memories, associations and feeling about him or her.
This dream shows you killing urges or needs you have that are natural and instinctive. The killing also point to feelings of pain and conflict, as when we kill out something in us that is natural or even beautiful; like when we are trained to be nice to everyone even though our instinctive reaction is to avoid certain people.
Torture depicts the internal pain, or fear of retribution, that occurs inside us due to conflict between our social training and internal drives.
See also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/dog/
Our inner parts that are involved in moral conflicts tend to have great difficulty in imagining a win-win resolution of the conflict at hand, which I feel your dream expresses as well for either the dogs are tortured or the guy has to be killed.
Conflicts we feel or meet in our dreams are nearly always conflicts with ourself. This is not usually recognised at first, although the way you describe your dream might give an indication in that direction; “I couldn’t see who was torturing them and I had to stop them. it was almost like a race against time to get” that guy”.
Who is “that guy”? Could it be your “inner father”?
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/father-dad/#InnerFather
“Being the guy” and “Talking as the guy” are wonderful means to explore which part of you is involved in torturing and killing your inner dogs.
You can use Power Dreaming to explore if there is also another path available to transform this situation; a path where you do not have to kill this male aspect in yourself.
“Letting the cops have him” could be for instance about exploring which approach is right and which approach is wrong for you in your inner world.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-animus-jungs-view-of-the-male-in-the-female/
While awake and relaxed imagine yourself back in the dream and continue it as fantasy or a daydream and move it toward satisfaction. Alter the dream in any way; experiment with it; play with it, until you find a way to fully feel at ease with it. In doing this you must not ignore the feelings of resistance and spontaneous emotion and fantasy that may occur. Satisfaction comes only when you have found a way of integrating these into your conscious imagining.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
Good Luck!
Anna 🙂
I dreamt that I was witnessing dog’s being tortured. I couldn’t see who was torturing them and I had to stop them. it was almost like a race against time to get that guy. in the end I did and killed him instead of letting the cops have him. I am not particularly bothered by the fact that I had killed a person but I was very upset with the fact that the animals were being tortured and then killed. what does this mean?
Hi tony
I had dream this morning of my old dog, Blacky who was barking at my parents front gate. I ran outside to see what was up and notice my neighbours puppy chained up and all tangled. Blacky was actually trying ti save the puppy… So i helped out careful of my neighbours other dogs watching and despite them not attacking me, i felt a bit frightened.
Once i got the puppy, i took it to my dad. As i turned around, i heard blacky running and kinda fighting. I looked for gim and realise he seemed to be fighting with the neighbours other dog. Then i saw dad had a little smile and realise dad had put the tiny puppy back over the fence onto the neighbours. Blacky seemed to be fighting the neighbours other dogs to save the puppy again. Thats when i woke up.
I would be grateful if you would interprete this dream for me.
Regards
Kurvin