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Show oCelterd to Editor Reader protests dog treatment Editor,' SpringvUle Herald Springville, Utah Dear Editor: I wish to protest the recent action of the city council in their drive to exterminate any dogs in town that are not tied or confined. To me it is extremely ex-tremely unjust and inhuman to deprive a child of his pet simply because the pet happens to step off the home property for a few minutes . . . and this is exactly what is happening, hap-pening, because I have recently seen the dog catcher lurk in the neighborhood for hours (aided by a man unfriendly to dogs) waiting for a dog to step into the road. Most people who have a dog in the family will tell you they consider their pet not only a loyal friend but actually as a member of their family. Most small children play from door to door in their neighbor- i hood. Why cannot their little pets be allowed to play along with them? There are hun- ! dreds of instances where a dog has saved the life of a child through saving him from drowning or keeping him out of the way of cars or machinery. ma-chinery. And what about arsonists, ar-sonists, window peepers, thieves, etc. who have been frightened away by the faithful faith-ful watchdog. Are we to be deprived de-prived of this type of protection protec-tion entirely. It seems that we are because Jt has become Impossible Im-possible to keep a dog in Springville. For centuries dogs . have been accepted as a part of civilization. Songs v have been written and monuments erected to heroic dogs. It is no myth that a dog is indeed man's best friend. But is man a friend in return if he keeps his dog chained twenty-four hours a day? And incidentally, is there a more sure way to make a dog vicious than to keep him chained? Are we to raise our children to never know the love of a pet? What has happened to the old truism, "Every boy should have a dog?" When my boys were small, I felt free to let them roam the hills and meadows, knowing know-ing they had the companionship companion-ship and protection of a faithful faith-ful dog. If the present trend in society to place convenience and luxury before character and personal development con-tinuas, con-tinuas, our children may well be soon banned from the street because of the nuisance they cause. Some people would be happy to see these youngsters vegetate in front of a television televi-sion set where they couldn't walk on the grass or pick the flowers. If a dog is doing damage or making trouble, then let someone some-one file a complaint as you have to in order to rid yourself your-self of a troublesome or vicious vi-cious human. I do not feel that a dog should be condemned simply because he steps off home property espeoially when the owner has paid a license which gives him a right to keep his dog. I also feel that the new method of catching dogs by using a hypodermic hy-podermic needle is inexcusable. When this method is used and the dog catcher is paid by the head for the dog he catches, might he not be tempted to take" them at any time anywhere? any-where? Also, won't he be tempted to lay in wait for the opportunity to pick up a dog a second time, since his fee would be higher? Why must we, in a free American city, submit to these Gestapo methods? meth-ods? Sincerely, Mrs. LeMont Robertson |