Rusty Saber: Abandoned animals are black eye on society

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.

It happened when I was in the third grade, which makes it ancient history. I met a boy from school, not much older than I, carrying a gunny sack.

In it was a puppy a mixed breed that seemingly started out as a brindle bulldog. The boy had begun the morning with a litter of puppies in the bag. His father had sent him to drown the unwanted puppies in the river.

To his everlasting credit, the boy had disobeyed his father and managed to find homes for all the puppies except the one in the sack. It was time for the boy to go home, therefore, he was on his way to the river to drown the remaining dog. I held the puppy in my arms, and it licked my hand.

The scene shifts to a few minutes later with me holding the puppy, asking my mother, "Can I keep him? I'll take care of him."

She said, "Yes," and, of course, she did most of the taking care of him.

That bedraggled puppy, a few minutes away from a death sentence, became Corky, a member of our family for the next 16 years. No child ever had a better companion. Man's (and boy's) best friend he was.

It was this early childhood experience that turned me into a life-long sucker for animals. Well, I have zero tolerance for snakes. Although I have never brought harm to a snake, I have never been an advocate for snake civil rights. Otherwise, I am a certified animal lover.

Back then, I wondered how any father could send a child off to drown a gunnysack full of helpless little puppies. I wonder the same thing today.

The movement to induce owners to spay and neuter pets had not yet gained much, if any, momentum. Such a thing would never have occurred to that father. His solution to an unwanted litter of pups was to kill them.

As anyone owning property outside of town can confirm, things haven't changed much. Unwanted pets being left at the side of the road is a common occurrence. Truth be told, the impetus for this column is an abandoned, half-starved kitten that turned up on a piece of property we own.

My wife, who shares my soft heart for adorable animals, spent the better part of a day finding a home for it. When a pet is abandoned, unless someone like my wife intervenes, it's likely to be a death sentence because the pet doesn't know how to fend for itself. Abandoning a living creature is a cowardly way to resolve the problem of an unwanted pet.

How people treat helpless animals reveals a lot about what sort of people they are. A frequently mentioned component of the profile of serial killers is that they tortured small animals. I note that it's always helpless animals. You never read about serial killers who tortured lions or tigers.

I don't mean to put all those who mistreat animals in the same category as serial killers, but, in my judgment, they are pretty low down on the food chain.

If everyone would spay and neuter their pets, the population of unwanted, suffering cats and dogs would be cut drastically. If this were a perfect world, pet owners refusing to have them fixed would take responsibility for any babies produced by their pets (taking responsibility doesn't mean killing them). Sorry, this isn't a perfect world.

Animal shelters are overloaded with cats and dogs just waiting for pet lovers like you to adopt them and give them a loving home. Cat lovers can take home a spayed or neutered cat that will become a loyal family member.

If the purring of a cat puts you at ease like no other sound, just take one home. The cat may seem a bit aloof, but it will be a friend for life.

A dog doesn't ask for much. A little dog food, a soft place to sleep, an occasional tummy rub and maybe a scratch behind the ear will likely do the trick. The reward will be a friend; one who will forever accept you for who you are.

Of course, the licking of your hand is a precious added reward.