AUTHOR: Schnozz DATE: 12/15/2005 12:30:00 AM ----- BODY:

Some time ago, when it was very very cold, the neighbors accidentally (well, I say accidentally, and I'm sure it was unintentional, but in my helpless, huge anger it is impossible not to scream NEGLIGENCE and CARELESSNESS, and this is coming from me, the most forgetful of them all) left their two dogs out in the snow all night, with no shelter at all from the freezing wind. Who knows how long the dogs would have stayed out there, huddled close to the house, if my father had not called over there at 5:30 AM, when he woke up, to alert the neighbors to the fact that they had left their dogs outside all night in freezing temperatures. The older dog, a collie, could barely walk on his frozen feet when the back door to the house finally opened to let him in. And none of us have seen him since in the days that followed ... with the exception of the day after, when he could not stop licking his feet. At this point, we're guessing his frostbite proved too grave to make keeping his feet an option, and he was put down. I hope we're wrong, but my parents are used to seeing that dog every day, and it's been more than a week now. Something tells me these people aren't the type to be slowly nursing the dog back to health somewhere inside that house, where we just can't see him. I am trying not to think about the fact that our is a world of such suffering. If I start thinking about how terrible it must be to be a dumb, trusting, uncomprehending, innocent dog who is slowly freezing to death in the wind all night while waiting, hoping, always hoping, for the sound of that door latch, waiting to finally be remembered as he huddles with frozen paws, then I will inevitably start thinking about how this level of suffering is reached--indeed, surpassed--all the time, every day, by dogs, by children, and by anyone else who is unlucky enough to find themselves powerless in the wrong place at the wrong time. And that is a mental door I try very hard to keep closed.

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:11:03 PM COMMENT-BODY:Oh man - too sad. Got an upbeat update to erase the ugly from mind? -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Schnozz COMMENT-DATE:12:48 AM COMMENT-BODY:Unfortunately, no. The dog died. They got a new dog. They now mistreat that one. :( -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Schnozz COMMENT-DATE:2:53 AM COMMENT-BODY:As there's recently been interest in this post again, I want to clarify my comment about the dog dying. Yes, he did in fact die from the frostbite--recent commentary has made me think I wasn't clear enough about the cause or when exactly he finally died. We never saw him again after the day he was licking his feet.

I would say more here but I do feel it's irresponsible of me to give any more identifying details without first knowing who is doing the asking, as the Rage of the Internet can be intense indeed. I'm happy to discuss this with anyone, but I gotta know who's asking in case somebody next door turns up dead or something. What they did was and still is wrong, but I'd rather not have blood on my hands. --------