All Dogs Go To Heaven

I can remember when I was a kid watching movies, I would always be way more upset about dogs being killed than I would about humans. Movies like Old Yeller and Turner and Hootch may have scarred me for life. Perhaps I've gotten numb to seeing people die in films; so when a dog dies, that affects me more than people do. I'm not sure. It just seems wrong to me when dogs die. I can't explain it.

So all this to say, my folks are putting down their dog today. Suzi lived a long life and definitely had three feet in the grave. So today will be her last day. It's a good day to die. I don't know how old she is, but she spent the past two years or so with my parents. I'm not too sad about it, cause she was a mean old bitch. My wife was downright happy when I told her. But it is sad for my parents. And I'm sure G-Anne (the original owner) will spend some time mourning today. But at least Suzi's going down before some disease or something worse puts her in too much pain.

So, I went to the folks for lunch today to pay my last respects. While waiting for my mom to get home, I noticed the following story on Indystar:

Puppy set on fire in Michigan City

Associated Press

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- A 4-month-old puppy, possibly doused with gasoline, was set on fire and had to be put to sleep because of severe burns, police said.

"Obviously, we're very concerned. It's a heinous crime committed by someone who has a lot of problems," Assistant Police Chief John Kintzele said Wednesday.

A neighbor said she was smoking a cigarette on her front porch about 1 a.m. Wednesday and saw what appeared to be a dog on fire running across the street. The woman called police, and officers found the badly burned pit bull coming out of some bushes.
The animal's owner, Andrea Davis, said her dog, Snoopy, had been on a leash tied to a stake in her fenced back yard.

"I thought this was a nice neighborhood," said Davis, who moved there about two months ago. "I don't want another dog if I can't keep him in the back yard. He was a real good dog. I wouldn't have traded him for the world."

A search of the area led officers to a nearby shed, where they found a gasoline can.

What a sick, sick bastard. For some reason this disgusted me more than the millions of other filthy things going on in our world. Maybe because I'm numb to the other crap. But who does this to a 4-month old puppy? Named Snoopy at that. And tied up in the backyard. Bastard. What a sick world.

Anyways, hopefully dogs do go to heaven. They deserve it more than we do.

So in honor of today's events, I'm going to share one of my all time favorite short stories. It's by Stephen Crane and it's called A Dark-Brown Dog. It really is amazingly written, but if you know Stephen Crane, you'll know what to expect. It's worth five minutes if you can spare the time: A Dark-Brown Dog.