I am grief-stricken – I’ve been a teary misery since our wonderful dog, Glennie, died recently. I am bereft. He was my faithful friend, my constant companion. He was exceptionally intelligent, affectionate, loyal, patient, gentle, well-mannered – I could go on and on listing his virtues. He considered me his responsibility, preceded me into every room and checked on me all day. He anticipated events and sensed when I was blue, at which times he would comfort me with his close presence. Plato wrote that a dog has the soul of a philosopher and I believe it.
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole: Roger Caras. I agree and have always needed a dog in my life.
Glennie wasn’t destructive or free-roaming; we were aware of the danger of poison in our area and so were careful to avoid it. I responsibly walked him on his lead every afternoon and my husband took over this practice when I could no longer do so. Glennie wasn’t old or sick and didn’t have to die. I believe he was lured to his death by the scent of food, food which had been poisoned. So I must think his last moments were spent in agonizing pain. What kind of person would intentionally harm a precious dog?
My husband, too, has been terribly hurt by losing our dear companion. Friends suggest we adopt a dog from the MAPS shelter, initially to serve as a distraction to help alleviate our overwhelming sadness. But I wonder if we’d just be condemning yet another to a hideous death by bringing him or her to a neighborhood where a poisoner lurks. Ours has become a dog-free zone – not by community choice but by a poisoner’s malice!
Words cannot express my profound anger at such a situation. Because this individual seems to kill on impulse, as the urge takes him (or worse, as a premeditated goal), we are being denied the pleasure of canine companionship. This state of affairs is infuriating. There is surely a law against this crime on Montserrat. Can this abhorrent practice not be stopped?
S. Simpson
