Pity the person who would abandon his faithful hunting dogs

June 25, 2008 12:16 am

A few weeks ago, I visited the Westmoreland County animal shelter. This is a clean, well-run entity of local government service that gets by on minimum funding and the dedicated services of two workers.

While there, I saw three old beagle hounds and asked the attendant why they were there. He replied that they belonged to a hunter who gave them up when they became too old to hunt and would have been "an expense."

After years of faithful service, they were abandoned. What sort of man would be so callous, so cold-hearted as to desert these loyal creatures who cannot understand why they were taken from their lifelong home and given up to be destroyed if no one wants them?

These creatures are not alone. Weekly, I see old folks deposited in nursing and retirement homes, as they have outlived their usefulness and are now "too much trouble."

The hands that rocked the cradle are now palsied and worn; no one has the time to tend to their needs. They receive good care at the places of retirement, but visits from family, friends, even clergy fade away and become infrequent.

One who would abandon his faithful old dogs would abandon his faithful old mother. May God have mercy on his soul.

Dr. W.R. Gardiner

Westmoreland