I apologize for this in advance, and I wouldn’t post it if I did not believe it to be absolutely imperative. My 80 year old mother lives in a small, 100 year old farmhouse, on the side of a rural, gravel road, several miles from town. The location is frequently used as a dumping ground for unwanted pets. Most everyone in our neighborhood has, at one time or another adopted these unwanted animals. We can’t absorb them all. We’ve spent countless hours in an effort to find them homes. We’re rarely successful. Several days ago, a big, fancy truck sped by my mom’s house and paused briefly at the top of the hill. Moments later, five dandy hound pups, black with white markings, and probably several months old, came galloping down the hill, lost, confused, and in search of their people. The pups continued these desperate and futile efforts through the night. The following morning when my mother went to her door, all five puppies met her on her porch, tails wagging and desperate for affection. I’d dearly love to provide this story with a happy ending. I can’t. Being an extremely caring person, but well accustomed to this pathetic routine, Mom saw to it that these loving, trusting, entirely faultless animals were well-fed and loved on, and then they were taken to a facility where my mother paid from her own pocket to have them humanely put down. And then Mom spent the rest of the day in tears. Sadly, this scenario is all too common. If you have pets, please be a responsible to have them spayed or neutered. If you can’t be responsible, you shouldn’t have pets. I’m sorely tempted to conclude this narrative by telling you exactly what I think of anyone who would deliberately dump helpless animals on the doorsteps of others. I’ll spare you those details. Suffice it to say, there is absolutely no excuse for such behavior. S. T. Casebeer
