Animal Rights

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A dog barks continuously at nothing, or at least nothing that I can ear that would trigger him. I don't even know if it is a him or a her. I don't know his name I just know that his constant bark drives away the peace and quiet that I want to find while sitting and enjoying one of the first spring days of the season in my backyard. For three years we have had these neighbors and for three years if I breathe while I am outside I hear his. For three years I have wanted to let him off of his chain, out of their chain-link fence so that he can run away to find owners who will pay a little bit of attention to his hound dog soul.

Pet owners that can't be bothered by their sweet animals do not need to be pet owners. There should be stiff penalties and fines for abuse, even the small abusers like these. If I am able to document how long this dog is let to bark during the day, then it should be treated as disturbing the peace. But it's
during the day and it's hard to prove such a thing. These neighbors are a small example of that in the grand scheme of things.

Recently on the Internet there was a terrible video and report of a big dog being left heartlessly chained up in flood waters and freezing snow. Brave firefighters gallantly waded to him, gave him their hands to feel safe, brushed the chilling snow from his big loving head, and applied bolt cutters to the noose like chain to rescue him. The evil owners stated that they forgot about him. Punishment should be swift and harsh. I'd like to say we chain them up in a similar situation and let them see how it feels, but that would be cruel and make me no better than them. As I have told my son we must search for better ways to teach responsibility. More appropriate action would be to charge them for the manpower to take care of the situation and ban them from having a pet for three years.

The highest level equals Michael Vick. Let me start by saying I am a hug fan of the National Football League and was one of Michael Vick's early admirers. the man has a magnificent arm and knows the ins and outs of the game. What he didn't know was that it is wrong to have dog fights, it is wrong to kil dogs that don't perform up to his standards, and that it is wrong to lie about it when caught. Here's the thing, I really don't think he knew it was wrong, really bad wrong. I can only assume that his upbringing didn't teach him that normal, if you will, society does not condone such inhumane treatment. Now that he does know, I am not so sure that he truly understands. His demeanor doesn't feel like remorse. When you have felt true remorse for some negative action, you can see the truth of it in others. I think a forensic profiler would say the same. All we can hope is that it taught a segment of society to be better.

There has to be better punishments put into place regarding animal cruelty. It is our responsibility to speak and act for those, animals included, that can not speak for themselves. I will ponder this and what I can do about the lonely dog who barks behind my house.