|
“The greatness of a
nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are
treated.” --Gandhi
I try as
much as I can to keep developments in my home life out of the newspaper.
I know our readers sometimes like to hear about our garden, or our
wildlife visitors, but I try to keep the topics of this column community
related. This week, I have to share something happening at home to
explain my frustration with a community issue.
Our pets are like our
children. When Frank
and I got together, we were the Brady Bunch of pets. He had two dogs, I
had two dogs, plus a pregnant “drop off” dog, and three cats. Nine years
later, we now have our own pet cemetery, and are down to three dogs and
one cat.
Honey, our
inside dog, is dying from cancer. So, doesn’t it figure, while I am
facing death at home every day and am trying to make her last days
comfortable, that abusive and irresponsible pet owners becomes a
community topic.
I received
several calls last week about two dogs on Rt. 5 that were left behind
for days without food and water when their owner moved to a new
location. The owner eventually claimed the dogs and took them to their
new home, but only after being spoken to by law enforcement.
To think, while I lay at
night quietly urging Honey to eat or drink--cutting her chicken livers
into small pieces and putting ice in her water--somewhere else, someone
was simply neglecting their dogs, too lazy or irresponsible to feed and
water them.
A dog can
dehydrate in less than 24 hours, and there is a reason they refer to the
cramps of an unfed belly as hunger “pains.” Anyone who leaves tied pets
without water and food for days should be forced to fast, without drink,
for as many days. I can guarantee you that a person who doesn’t eat or
drink for six days will think twice before doing it to a pet again.
Don’t think
I’m totally soft-hearted. If a loose dog came into my yard and killed my
cat (as happened with
Loretta
Stevens
last week), I’d have no second thoughts about bringing out the shot gun.
My pets are my family, and I will protect them. My dogs are tied, and
are defenseless against any attackers. Oh, yes, threatening strays at
our house could very well be shot, and that wouldn’t change, even if I
lived in town.
If you allow
your dogs to run loose, or neglect to worm them or feed and water them
every day, you should be ashamed. If it were up to me, animal abusers
would be collared, leashed and tied to the courthouse step handrails for
all to see. And believe me, loose animals who threaten other pets and
people--I’d rather shoot their owners. It is not the animal’s fault.
Living in
the country, I also know, if my dogs run loose, and chase cattle or
threaten livestock or other pets, that likely my pets would be shot.
That’s why we have them on runners. That’s why we are responsible for
them. We care for their safety, and we respect our neighbor’s animals as
well.
I’m not sure
what upsets me more: the total irresponsibility of some pet owners, or
the lack of any kind of system in place to deal with them.
Ron
Gordon,
who once was our dog warden, told me last week that he had a list of the
dogs he put down while in the position. “I just couldn’t do it any
more,” he said. He also told me that a man convicted of animal abuse
earlier this year and ordered never to have a pet again, now has three
dogs. Unbelievable. It sickens me.
Our police
are short handed, and no one wants to be the one to take, or kill, an
innocent animal. In many cases, the owner will receive a warning first.
Animal abuse is not a high priority, and an animal taken from abusive
owners by police must have a new home within a week, or the law requires
it be “exterminated.” It is the same with those taken to a humane
society.
It is a sad situation to
think that an abused pet in
Calhoun has only two
options--to suffer or to die. Some may think it is better to let the
animal live in abusive conditions, but as I watch over Honey in her last
days, I know that our love for her will not let her suffer, and, if
needed, we will help her die.
I ask this
community--if you see an animal that is abused, starving, or
neglected--do something! A phone call to report the situation will end
the animal’s suffering, and will assure that the owner is punished, or
at least warned. If you call the police, yes, you have likely sentenced
that pet to death, but a life of suffering is not a life.
And if you call the
police and do not get satisfactory results, I make the same offer as
Mayor Wilbert Kerby. Call me. I will use all within my power to comfort
those pets, in life or in death.
|