"How could you?"

I've read this before on some of the Rainbow Bridge sites, and it still brings tears to my eyes.

This is enough to break any one's heart.

My god, please let this end. I cannot tell you how much this story has touched my soul. I feel so bad as a human that we have the capacity to treat animals with such neglect and inhuman treatment. We would never euthanise a human because that is morally wrong. Yet day after day we allow our own pets, our family members as I see it, to be euthanised because of age or what we deem is their time to go, or because of a situation like this. I have never felt as if I knew what it was like to feel the way an animal feels until now, and i praise the author for doing this. It has made me rethink the way i perceive the shelters and their function as eventual murderers of pets left behind or forgotten and anyone who does this for a living must have a cold heart. Noone can make me belive they care about animals when they condone euthanasia of any form. Don't play god anymore, we've done it for too many generations and it's time to stop. Stop the murder of innocent animals because we can't seem to find room to keep them or people who care enoguh to save their lives to take them from shelters before they kill them.
It's time to stop all shelters from euthanising any animal of any kind unless the animal presents a true enviromental or biological hazard to the population. We have killed off so many animals on this planet with no thought to their souls, to their right to live as we do. Time to grow up humans, it's time to step up to the plate for the planet and all her creatures big and small before it's too late.

I came across this story tonight. I've read it in the past and it always makes me take time to pause and think about the simple things in life--so many things we take for granted. Sometimes I question how people can think that human beings are the most intelligent species on the planet. With so much war, and hate, and evil, and disregard for other living creatures, it saddens my heart to think how I have to constantly remind myself to not get lost in apathy. I try to respect all living things on this planet. We're all in it together. Tonight I fondly watched as my dog stretched out on the bed and snored with contentment. I watched my little fish of 5 years swim in her tank and watch me as I pass by. She's got a little sore on her underbelly that just happened and I'm dutifully taking care of her and doing my best to get her to heal. A friend said just flush it. It's just a stupid fish. I told him, would you like me to say the same thing if your daughter was sick? Just flush her? Where do you make the distinction in life to regard any living thing less than another? Yes, a daughter (and a human being) may, and is in some regards, more important than a fish. But, to completely disregard or humbly respect life, however small, I think speaks volumes about us as humans.

Dear Editor,
The article "How Could You?" is one that should most definately be read by everyone who owns a dog, or even thinking about getting one! I said "owns", but for those of us who have brought one into the home as part of the family, it doesn't take very long before we start to ask "who really owns who, around here?". This question of course, is asked only by those of us who according to the 'experts', do everything wrong when it comes to bringing a dog into the home. Now I'm far from being an 'expert' on dogs and even farther from being a writer, but for the past few days I've been carrying around these terrible feelings of guilt, so hopefully this will help ease some of what is now a terrible burden I'll have to carry with me for the rest of my life. I haven't yet mentioned any of this to my wife and I doubt I ever will. You see, several days ago, I watched and listened to a dog expert who was being interviewed on a morning news show and realized my wife and I have ruined the lives of our two dogs, an English Springer Spaniel and a Beagle. As a matter of fact we're still ruining them, seeing as how Joey the Springer is on the bed and sleeping comfortably alongside my wife, whilst Cookie the Beagle is sound asleep on the two pillows under my desk. The pillows were of course intended for the comfort of my feet and not meant to be slept upon by a little female dog, but seeing as how she's getting on in years, I think perhaps I can be forgiven for allowing her the little extra comfort. Besides, she's actually doing me a favour, even though it must be terribly annoying to her, she does tolerate it! I have this bad habit of rubbing her tummy with my toes whenever I sit at the computer, but she puts up with it quite well and simply rolls completely onto her back and drifts off to sleep. I really must try to break this ugly habit, as it just isn't fair to her. Most of my friends would break my toes if I did that to them, but not Cookie, patient as she is and why she wants to sleep under the desk is beyond me anyhow, as it isn't her favourite place to sleep. Actually she has two favourite spots, one being on the couch whenever I happen to be sitting on it and the other being my bed, of all places. She must be very tolerant indeed, since I suffer from a back injury that when I do manage to fall asleep, causes me to toss and turn for the duration, however long that might be. Her answer to this inconvenience however, is to lie in the middle of the bed and stretch her body straight out at a ninety degree angle to mine, thus assuring me a sleep, free of all the tossing and turning. If I turned one way, I would get a faceful of doggie bum and if I tossed the other way, I'd be on the floor! The little sweetheart again has my best interest in mind! It is because of my restlessness I decided to sleep downstairs, so as to allow my wife to get a good night's sleep.
Joey our Springer, actually took it upon himself to keep my wife company during the night, making sure she didn't get cold and lonely, being in that big old bed by herself and besides, why let a perfectly good half of a huge bed go to waste? My wife has for many years, suffered from pain in her lower neck, resulting from a car accident (she says I cause it sometimes) and Joey who sensing this, falls asleep with his warm bum planted firmly between my wife's shoulder blades. Perhaps an expert will be able to tell me why dogs like to sleep with bums in and heads out, at least ours do! In return for his taking care of my wife, Joey only asks one favour of us and that is to help him up onto the bed and then help him back onto the floor, in the morning. Considering all the years of my wife and I not treating him right, I'm surprised Joey has so far suffered fifteen years and three months of life and looks as though he's good for a couple more! We've been doing things wrong with him since he was six months old, the last of a litter of pups, a dog no one wanted. The breeders said he would never amount to anything, but I loved him the moment I saw him. I trained him to respond to the whistle, as well as hand signals and boy could he flush and retrieve! I guess I could have trained him even better had I chose to use a shock collar just like the experts I watched, instead of love and rewards, but what the heck, I'd started out doing everything wrong right from the beginning anyway. I never could understand why the lab owners wouldn't allow Joey to compete against their dogs, even in friendly competition. Perhaps it was simply because they were the experts and my training methods just weren't up to par with theirs. My wife said it was because Joey would have won hands down! Now Cookie whose tummy I'm still scratching with my toes, she came to live with us under totally different circumstances... she was dumped off in the country. It was almost eight years ago, when I was driving my work pick-up truck, upon coming to the top of a hill seen this Beagle in the middle of the road, sniffing at the vehicles in front of me, that had slowed down to pass her. I stopped, got out of my truck and held the door open for her. She immediately jumped in and as soon as I got in, squeezed right against me and showered me with tons of licks that had my beard just soaked. She has stuck to me ever since. My wife and I tried to find her owners, thankfully without success. We called all the pounds within a wide radius and gave our names and phone number, just in case someone was looking for her. Since she is a purebred, my wife suggested we take her to have our vet scan her for a micro-chip. It turned out that she did and we were then able to get a name and phone number from the kennel club, but the people had moved without leaving a forwarding address or phone number with the club, nor with any of the Humane Societies with whom we had left our names and phone number. Now here we are, eight years later and still stuck with this darned Beagle who incidently, has now moved her head onto my left foot, whilst I'm scratching her tummy with my right. I suppose this is the suffering I deserve for not doing things the way the experts say they should be done!
By the way, if you Mr. Willis happen to read this, please note that your article which I read on rense.com, left me with a strange lump in my throat and some inexplicable water leaking from my eyes!

May God Bless All and May He Bless Those Four-Legged Creatures Who Give Us Nothing But Love!
Jim Benson

This was well written, and I did cry at the end. Ultimately, this is what happens when they go to the shelter. I love the dog's point of view, and how selfless (s)he was. God bless all the creatures of this earth and the fact that they have to put up with us -- the so-called "intelligent" species.

That put tears in my eyes. My brother lost my dog when I had to leave it with him for a year. Middle of a Divorce right now and the x is taking my other 2 dogs. I spend more time with those dogs then he does and it's sad because I know he's not going to take care of them like they should be. I don't think my heart can take having another dog.

Link is a picture of the dogs that I won't have rights too after 23 more days. :(

You hit on a subject that I, as a traveling worker, find totally too real. My best friend is still alive and with me and will be until she dies of old age, even if we have to live in a tent because the landlords are so prohibitive. I understand the landlords reasoning, but there are just to few landlords nationwide that will accept any kind of animal, even a fish. Perhaps the insurance companies could develope a pet insurance that would cover clean up for apartment dweller animals. Meanwhile the old girl and I enjoy our tent life just fine, and our landlord, accepts animals....God never turns his back on us.

I think I finally understand what you were trying to get at by writing this article. However, a not only the proud father of 2 beautiful Golden Retrievers, the owner of a dog bakery, and volunteer with a rescue organization, I found the article deeply disturbing. If you are trying to get people to adopt great companions from shelters, I think raw statistics will prove your point better. All that you did was upset me by putting this dog done and thinking, what if it were one of mine? Shelters and Rescue groups are very important but if you want people to adopt from them, show the positives of the hard work of these kind people, not the heartbreak.

This story had me balling my eyes out. Every dog lover should read and reflect upon it. It hits real close to us. We bred Springer Spaniels for three generations. I have witnessed a number of natural passings and have been involved with a couple euthanasia’s. The last-in-line is still with us. The old guy has Cushing’s disease, is mostly blind, and has some dementia. He also has a heck of a time staying on his feet on slick surfaces. His day is coming soon. The thought of having to make the ‘decision’ again hurts to no end. I pray that his fate will not include that last trip to the Vet. He is in no pain at this time and is still aware enough to want to belong with the rest of us.
We do not breed anymore and the other two dogs we have were rescues. I whole heartedly encourage choosing rescue shelter pets over breeders and for people to be responsible pet owners.

Gandhi has said that a nation can be judged by the way it treats its animals. I believe we have failed the judgement miserably.
Too many consider themselves "owners" of creatures. We are in fact their guardians and protectors as they guard and protect us. They are in our lives and homes because we invited them in. How arogant to throw them away when they seem to be taking up too much room or demanding too much time.
I do not like people most of the time and much prefere to spend my time with the most intellegent creatures God has created....animals.

I had to part with many kittens over the years when I was a child. My mother had gotten me a cat but we never got her spayed/neutered. I did not learn disloyalty from this experience. It broke my heart so much that I vowed to never let it happen again. Quite the contrary I learned to appreciate these animals and what being truly loyalty involves. It is a wierd and ironic way to learn this lesson but it worked. Now I take care of two cats and I love them to death. I think often about those cats I gave up 21 years ago, my memories of them are vivid and still very painfull. I have made a commitment to my animals no matter what, unconditionally I will care for them as much as I possibly can. I cant explain how much I love my pets. To euthanize a healthy animal is abbhorrent. Anyone who would take part in such is equally abbhorrent. Find another way to make a living or get a job at a no kill shelter. I understand euthanizing a sick animal, (as well as humans) but if there was nobody willing to kill these helathy animals we wouldn't have to talk about this. I am going to be extra thankfull for my feline blessings today. Thanks for the article Jim. Great job.

I ran a ferret shelter......people suck.....too many people dump on shelters rather than adjust their lifestyle.

a dog is not a human being. i find your attitudes toward what someone does with thier personal property offensive. what the dog owner should have done is to shoot the animal instead of putting his property on the state to take care of. i am tired of hearing animal shelters whine about lack of funding. there should be no such thing as a publicly funded shelter. as far as it being a "humane society" that is a oxymoron. peple should take care of thier own responsibilities. animals have no rights. they are not humans and do not have feelings. please grow up.

To:give me a break--who are you to tell any of us to grow up with such an outlook and attitude like that!!?? YOU grow a heart. People like you are beneath contempt.

To give me a break--where in this world do you get off telling the rest of us out here to "grow up"??!! No a dog is not a human, but a dog has a living breathing spirit in its body. Just like a cat or any other animal.

You come across to me, at least, as an unbelieveable cold, heartless person who I hope NEVER will have an animal friend. Grow up you tell us? YOU grow a HEART!!!!

dude animals have rights and 1 is the right to live and to be loved by humans and other animals alike karma is a bitch man and it will come t ohaunt you peopl like you should be shot in the forehead its humans that are the crappy beings on this planet have fun

TO: GIVE ME A BREAK. The Hebrew word for soul is NEPHESH. In the Old Testament it is FIRST used of Animals. Also the bible speaks of humans without a soul, you are one of these. You will never have to worry about Animals and I can assure you of this. LEVIATHAN

Dear Mr Willis, Thank you for your article.

To: Give me a break. Your phone # and e-mail are both fakes. So not only are you a son of a bitch, but also a coward.

A very moving piece. I love big loyal dogs. Little inbred ones that bark and can't back up that bark should be hardly ever seen let alone heard. At least cats are quiet. A big dog seems to know when to bark and when to just watch. They also have a sixth sense about scoundrels and growl to let you know that they are not to be trusted. That's way beyond cool. I want a dog but he and I would have to take turns eating if that were the case. It's one of the few things I don't have that bothers me. Lost my first dog, Brubeck, a white mutt with blue eyes, to a train. My second dog my Mother gave away which I write about in my second novel God is an Indian Giver. Dogs play key roles in my stories and I'll leave a link to those books at the end of this blog entry. I used to perform standup comedy and some of the funniest bits were about dogs, "The other day I was home alone when I hear a sigh...(SIGH) The hair stood up on the back of my neck and I started to shake... Someone was in the house with me...I grabbed a lamp and through it in the direction of the sigh... I forgot I had a dog...Poor thing scratches on the door now when he wants to go outside to sigh... Dogs are great, and personally I believe in that whole God/Dog thing. Dogs are great, God is great…
Who else but the Creator would give themselves the best job? And then God created Dog in his dog's image and said ‘thou shalt lie around the house, sleeping all day. Thou will not have to hold a job - People will feed you, stroke and pet you… You will love the simple pleasures in life, like a walk or chasing a stick.
If I had my choice, I’d be a dog.
Cats are a little more. How can I phrase this delicately for cat lovers?
Cats are a little more… Demonic! They report directly to Satan - Spies - Sneaky up-to-something - Back stabbers -
All those weird things you do behind closed doors in front of the cat -
That cat may even have pictures; I wouldn’t trust’em for a second!
Rubbing up against your leg while you’re on the phone - Eavesdropping are we?
They don’t like to be pet...just give them a good stiff unemotional leg to rub against...
And, cats could go outside but the litter box thing is just a reason to keep you busy dumping and cleaning long enough for them to get the grate off the furnace so they can slip into Hell to see their buddy, Lucifer."

If you have any interest you can read the whole novel on line for free or purchase it as a download or paperback. Thanks for the great article.

http://www.lulu.com/content/327096

I only wish every person could read this and really comprehend it. Animals are GOD'S creatures and if they were not "worthy" then NOAH would have had an entirely different story.
It pains me the way we, as a society, treat these awesome creatures. To be able to just discard an animal I cannot fathom for they are my children!!
WE made a choice to take these animals in and make them dependent on us and for that, I believe we should be held no less accountable for their lives than if it were a child we chose to bring in to this world!!

Great article. I work with rescue and have 5 fosters right now not including my own 3. I see what this article is talking about on a daily basis. My heart just breaks because no matter how hard myself and others in the group try, we can not save all at the local shelter from euthanasia. There are some of the sweetest, gentlest souls put down every week, but there is just not enough space in foster homes. I wish everyone coming to the shelters to surrender an animal had to read this first!!! Gina

Very moving story Jim. An exellent reminder of the subtle ways we teach each other.
Keep up the great work.
aj

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Scotland-History/GreyfriarsBob.htm

Those of you who doubt the depth of a dog's loyalty should visit this site for an account of 'Greyfriars Bobby'. I cried myself during a television account (Animal Channel ?) of this famously documented case of a dog visiting his departed master's gravesite and standing vigil for 14 years. The following is also a nice read involving a Disney movie based on the story.

http://www.taphophilia.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2992

This is for the so called joe:GORW UP!GROW UP,How dare YOU!As far as i am concerned your the one that needs to be SHOT!the only thing i fine offensive is you .Your a sick bastard that i hope has a very lonley life,Iwould call any animal more human than you (and yes that includes a rat).

Oh one last thing:have you ever heard of karma,every dog gets there day.HAVE A NICE LONLEY LIFE SICKO.

"HCY?" can be downloaded from my book's site and everyone is encouraged to distribute it. Many newspapers have published it illustrated with photos taken at local animal shelters and that has increased adoptions. Please give the site address wherever it is distributed/published:
http://www.crean.com/jimwillis

Thank you.

You are absolutely right, animals are not human beings and for that simple fact, I thank God! I hope you don't have a dog or any other animal in your life, for what a miserable existence that animal would have. In my letter above, I mentioned that I trained our English Springer for the field and yes, I did hunt birds with him. As a matter of fact I used to hunt deer and other animals also. The ironic thing is that through having a hunting dog that my wife and I treated as another member of the family, I learned that animals do indeed have souls and got rid of my guns! Anyone who has had a dog for any length of time, soon learns that instinct has nothing to do with he or she coming over and laying its head on your lap, or waiting by the front door for you to come home. True, they do think differently from us, one of the reasons I thank God they are not human. They don't kill just for the sake of killing nor they pollute the environment, or cut down forests for that matter. In Greyfriars Scotland, there is a monument to a little dog who died on his master's grave. "Greyfriars' Bobby" as he became known as, survived on handouts for a while after his master died, but he used to carry them to the grave site and eat the food there, eventually dying of a broken heart. If this wasn't love and devotion, I will never know what is! We can teach and train dogs to do many things, but they can teach us a lot more!

To: GIVE ME A BREAK AND ANY ONE ELSE THAT NEEDS TO KNOW THIS. THE TRUE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF ONE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IS " THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT PREMEDITATED MURDER, PERIOD ( THE KEY IS PREMEDITATED, NOT FOR FOOD OR SURVIVAL). IT DOES NOT SPECIFY ANY PARTICULAR SPECIES BECAUSE IT INCLUDES ALL LIFE. IF YOU ARE TOO HUMAN CENTRIC TO BELIEVE THIS THEN FIND WHAT THE ORIGINAL HEBREW SAYS. I DEFY ANY TO PROVE ME WRONG.

trying to catch my breath. my heart is broken after reading that. losing the pet you treasure feels so sickening it's almost indescribable. I love my sweet little friend more than life itself. this article needs some sort of pre-emptive disclaimer to ward off sappy people like myself who will be haunted to the grave upon discovering this text.

Your article brought tears to me. I run a rescue for rotties and pits that are geriatric or abuse cases. No one understands how quickly these dogs go down hill after years of being loyal. At my place, they do get a new lease on life and have their last days in the sun, well care for and loved.

Many of these older dogs are very adoptable; they are so responsive to love.

But we are a throw-away society.

So, beyond displaying an ability by the author to rehash a sappy, sad story, one which has been written over and over again, what's the purpose of it? The only people who will read "How could you" and be moved by it are the people who would never think of giving up their pets for any reason. The ones who would, in other words, the people who drop off dogs and cats every day at animal shelters all over the country, won't be bothered by the story at all. The reason is that those people mostly don't look upon animals as living things, or at least living things that have feelings. So those people, the ones who lack empathy, are just going to brush the story off and keep buying and disposing of pets. Stories like this pop up every few years, and they always bug me. The authors project human thoughts and feelings onto creatures which don't have them, and then use a sad situation to manipulate the readers' emotion. We think: Oh how heartbreaking! What suffering and rejection the dog felt and yet still returned nothing but love. In reality, the last thoughts of a dog being "put to sleep" is probably more like: "Gee, I wonder what this human's rear end smells like". Pet overpopulation is a problem, but it's not going to be solved by bad melodrama. The way to stop it is by spaying and neutering all the dogs and cats. I personally think that what we should do is round up every stray dog and cat in the country in a coordinated manner, and kill them as quickly and painlessly as possible. Then we should ship their bodies off to the countries which eat them as food, so they at least won't have died in vain. Then if we pass laws which make it a crime to not fix dogs and cats that are just housepets, we would be rid of the overpopulation problem once and for all. Think about that for a moment. It would be sad and more than a little gruesom to kill off all the millions of unwanted animals currently sitting in the pound and roaming the streets, but once it was over, we would never again have to drive by an animal shelter, because they would all be closed. All the dogs and cats that were left would have a home, and the suffering would finally come to an end. Since it is very obvious that too many people won't spay and neuter their animals voluntarily, it should be made a law and then enforced. We should then set up a system which makes sure that only enough dogs and cats are bred to meet the demand. I for one would rather endure the sight of a big kill off than condem generation after generation of people to read stories like "How could you". If the fictional dog of that story could talk, I'll bet he'd agree too. He'd probably say, "Let's end this now and not make countless millions of homeless animals go through this year after year after year.

I am soooo thank-ful I do not know anyone like "give me a break" I have two REAL friends in this world, they are Jesus and my dog. The best!
As for people/other who have no love for animals? My sympathies to you(people/other)

Maybe you ought to do a "feline" or "cat" version of that story too.

Thank you to our husky Stratus (5 1/2 yrs) that we lost in Sept. unexpediatly he was a pure breed and was loved and loved back with all his heart. Although this time around we waited until he sent us a baby brother (1 yr golden retriver-with all the grace of a dump truck in a chandiler shop 3 wks later at the shelter here in our city. Someone will how to go to their grave knowing they gave him away we wish we could let them know how much of a happy and healthy home he has now no more cement floors to sleep on and petted once a day....only feathered master suite beds with his mommy and daddy and constant petting. Please let all your loved ones know you can't replaced friends but you can wait on them to send you a new one. We loved and still Stratus let him rest in peace and love and will always treat Nox Stratus's little brother with as much love and stratus had given us.
Thank you very much to people with the hardest job in the world (a shelter volunteer) for all you do we are thankful and appriciative

People like you make me sick! Apart from not having a heart you need to remember animals offer love + security without asking for anything in return. They trust us and look what we do!! You need to take a step back and look hard at your sad little life. You are a poor excuse for a human being, maybe you woud be happier joining the japs killing whales. oh and learn to spell SAD ACT!

I think you did a great job personifying the dog. This is what art does. It makes us feel something. Some people have a hard time seeing and feeling things and some times even a picture isn't worth a million words. There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.

My book at the bottom link has a dog character who sees what is right clearly, and can't understand how people miss what is so obvious.

Great article Jim, you write with empathy and compassion and for some folks that doesn't come as easy. To see things their way however, they do have a certain economy to their world view. They see animals as either food or some purpose and Trees as houses or firewood. When things come down to survival, these are the kind of people who know how to build houses and fires...whereas many of us will have to learn in a hurry.

Conservatives seem to think if they can do something, anyone can, what they don't seem to understand is opportunity is a finite number based on a system of limited options. Anyone can get rich but not everyone can get rich...

I don't mean to stray to off the point but your story and people's responses got me to thinking. Which was your point right? Nice work.

And on a much odder note, click the back cover link and see if you can see a Shroud of Turin like image in the background behind the girl. This is completely accidental, but I see it clearly. Most have said they see it when I point it out but someone today said he didn't see it. Personally I think it's weird.

http://www.lulu.com/content/334447

I think I speak for everyone when I say that that story really touched me. It's a really nice story and it almost made me cry.

Poor little doggy! :(

It's sad that so many dogs get pathetic treatment. But believe it when I say many dogs get wonderful lives. My wife and I have 2 dogs, had them since they were puppies. They are loved and pampered. Every decision that we make - they are taken into serious consideration. We watch "The Dog Whisperer" and give our dogs: Exercise, Discipline, Affection. In that order. Just like Mr. Milan suggests. Oh, and both our girls were fixed prior to their first heat. They get a trip to the vet 2-3 times per year, get prime dog food and filtered water. Our joy is our dogs joy and vice versa. Don't let this article get you too depressed!

My wife have a dog that is our only child. At five years old I already get a lump in my throat even thinking of when that time comes when we have to make that choice, hopefully that is many years away and I hope he will understand.

We recently fostered a dog who was in a shelter and was a day away from being put down. He was put in the shelter because he was too high energy and out of control. I think he was ment to come to us because we also have a very high energy drive that we worked with so we had some experience. With lots of discipline, love, treats and training (sound familiar to all parents with good kids?) he is now a very good dog who has been placed in a forever home with a family that will continue to work with him. He needed love and attention and has much more to give. I think that he knows we saved his life

Having grown up with dogs I think they can be best summarized as eternal five year olds.

that is the saddest thing ive ever read

this person is a scam artist and a predator of animsal loving women. he is nor what people think he is. Look at petabuse.com and see what he has done. Just don'ty even send him any money that hje always begs for. He's a nutcase/

saddest story ever! I cried when i read it literally tears were running down my cheeks i hope that dosen't happen to any dog. So don't waste time just lying around get some money and donate it to animal abuse i've aleready done my share i donated 150 dollars to a shelter and animal hospital.