AmandaHickmanPublic+Letter

Amanda Hickman Public Letter September 4, 2010 Dear Neighbor, Do you ever lie in your bed at night during an extreme blizzard or thunderstorm and wonder how your dog is doing? I do. Animal neglect is a subject that goes unnoticed by the majority of people every single day. From depriving their dog of food to the lack of shelter, animal neglect is involved in almost ninety percent of the causes for calls to the many animal control centers for animal abuse. Many animals pass away every day, never knowing what it is like to be taken care of by a responsible owner. Poor Rascal is on his way to becoming another dog lost in the statistics. Rascal’s living accommodations are painful for your neighbors to witness. Despite the enormous backyard that your family has, his living space is limited. Around the large tree in the middle of your yard is where Rascal’s heavy chain is wrapped. Directly beside this tree is his doghouse. Rascal’s little house is plastic and not large enough for him to turn around within its walls, so he has been forced to master the task of walking backwards into his doghouse. Many dogs have never even been forced to attempt this stunt. The floor of his doghouse is vacant; he has not been given the option of a warm blanket or some straw to lie upon. The thick, metal chain around his neck has worn his fur down and has turned the short remains of his long fur to a rusty color from the metal always being there; the magnitude of the chain stretches to five or six feet at a maximum. I often find myself thinking in sympathy for Rascal, “Wow, what a life.” Rascal does have quite a view from his tiny corner. He always watches from within his doghouse as my dogs and other neighborhood dogs run throughout their own backyards and then return to the inside of the house in which their owners reside. He watches the obvious happiness that his neighborhood friends get to experience, their happiness from the extended freedom that they so graciously have always experienced. It is quite apparent that Rascal is not a violent dog in any way. He always wags his tail to show his happiness with his entire body language as you and your family came home for the day, but as you stroll past him with no acknowledgement of his existence the tail wagging comes to a halt. Again, I find myself thinking, “Wow, what a life.” It is extremely disturbing to see you bring other dogs and puppies to your house and keep them in your own home to live. You always seem to give them to a new home as soon as you grow tired of caring for them after about two or three weeks, but they are never attached to a chain in your backyard that is wrapped around a tree. Again, Rascal sits from his confinement, watching you play with your new puppy which has the privilege of tromping in and out of your home as it pleases. The two of you run throughout your large yard and play fetch. As Rascal watches, he wags his tail in excitement for the romping that you and your new puppy are participating in, the romping that Rascal never gets to experience. The sympathy that I feel for Rascal escalades with each and every day. On days in which the weather is extremely bad, Rascal does his best to curl up inside his doghouse to keep warm or dry. I always notice you and your family running in different directions during a blizzard or a thunderstorm, picking up bicycles and toys and putting them in your garage to keep them from acquiring any damage. All the while, Rascal sits by his doghouse watching your deep concern for the items that you own, the heartless, materialistic items that mean more to you than your loving dog. What about Rascal? Does Rascal not need a safe place to be with your toys and bicycles? Animal neglect is one of the most common forms of animal cruelty. It can be stopped and turned into a better situation. Animals are living, breathing creatures that only require simple tasks in order to provide them with adequate care, but these tasks are, nevertheless, crucial. It saddens me when you tell me that you have had Rascal ever since you were a young child; it pains me to imagine the many years that he has been living in these conditions. I do understand that you might not be completely aware of the animal neglect that you are forcing your dog to endure, but I am hoping that in reading this letter of concern you will adopt awareness of your actions. I am not asking you to treat Rascal as if he were a human, but he still should be treated with responsibility. Please seize your frequent adopting of puppies and then soon after giving them away. This is not helpful for the numerous animals that are left without a home every single day. Hopefully by bringing awareness to the ongoing mistreatment of animals, individuals will take responsibility for their animals. I’m asking you; the next time you lay in your bed and drink your hot chocolate with your warm blanket wrapped around you to think about Rascal. Think about Rascal as you adopt more dogs that are allowed to sleep in the warm house with you and your family, and think about Rascal as you treat your materialistic items with great care as he watches from afar. Think about rascal because I will be thinking of him every day, thinking, “Wow, what a life.”