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An owner's way of handling his dog makes a Tracy resident wonder about animal cruelty.
EDITOR,
I normally do not browse the police log, because it reminds me just how careless and thoughtless some folks are about their own lives and belongings.
They tie up our law enforcement folks with situations that could have taken two minutes to avoid. Anything that is left in one’s car in the open is an invitation for thugs — and you know we have plenty of them now. It’s only commonsense to be responsible and not leave the "invitations" in your vehicles. Is the extra little effort not worth avoiding sometimes a costly result?
However, today I am writing as an animal lover, in response to a police log entry (Wednesday’s Tracy Press) about a caller who reported that a dog had been yelping and crying for three days on Hollywood Avenue. The answer from the owner was that the dog was new to the area, and he would get a shock collar.
I am appalled that a pet owner would consider that a dog’s yelping and crying had anything to do with being new to an area. Dogs bark in happiness. If they are yelping and crying, there is something wrong in their world.
It seems to me the owner might not have enough interest in the dog to have figured this out.
Dogs are pack animals and do not want to spend their lives in solitary confinement. Maybe the dog is in some kind of pain. Maybe it is lonely, banished to the yard with no partner to play with, keep it company or stimulate it.
The best pet owners are ones who can imagine themselves in their pets’ positions. In my humble opinion, the shock collar is not the answer — it merely tortures a dog when it has other needs that are not being met.
For the welfare of the dog, it may be better for this owner to find a new and more attentive home for it.
Muriel Roberts, Tracy
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