On Not Killing Our Environmental Puppies

Yesterday, your neighbor’s yellow lab gave birth to a litter of puppies.

Today, the owner has made up his mind to do one of the following: to turn them outdoors to fend for themselves in the heat and take their chances with the traffic; to poison them outright; or to simply ignore their whining there in the next room until they die from starvation.

The dogs are his. They live, however briefly or unwell, on his private property. But if we heard about irresponsible treatment of creatures in this way, we’d think it fitting that the local sheriff visit your neighbor to explain to him the consequences of reprehensible treatment to animals. Animal cruelty is a behavior universally abhorred – against certain cherished and cuddly animals, at least.

And yet some very vocal people of our times are convinced that a godless, liberal, socialist one-world-government conspiracy is ramming down our throats the notion that other animals than pets have “rights” that limit how they ought to be treated.

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fred
fred

Fred First holds masters degrees in Vertebrate Zoology and physical therapy, and has been a biology teacher and physical therapist by profession. He moved to southwest Virginia in 1975 and to Floyd County in 1997. He maintains a daily photo-blog, broadcasts essays on the Roanoke NPR station, and contributes regular columns for the Floyd Press and Roanoke's Star Sentinel. His two non-fiction books, Slow Road Home and his recent What We Hold in Our Hands, celebrate the riches that we possess in our families and communities, our natural bounty, social capital and Appalachian cultures old and new. He has served on the Jacksonville Center Board of Directors and is newly active in the Sustain Floyd organization. He lives in northeastern Floyd County on the headwaters of the Roanoke River.

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  1. It is interesting that you initially wrote this in the Obama era. The passion sounds as if Trump is in power. You are speaking hard truth to us all.

  2. Love this piece, Fred! To think that neighboring counties have wildlife killing contests in which prizes are awarded for killing the most, the biggest and even the smallest coyotes, foxes, bobcats or raccoons is disheartening. We need to raise awareness and outlaw such exploitation of our wildlife.