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Like many of us on Facebook, my feed was flooded last Friday with news that a dog was found abandoned in a large zipped up camping bag in Columbia County. The dog appeared to have suffered trauma to its head, left for dead on the side of the road.
I was appalled to hear this news. In fact, it made me sick to my stomach that someone out there could be so cruel to an animal. I hoped that the person responsible would be caught, and later that day I read the news that a person had been arrested.
As the news channels flashed her photograph, I wondered how a 56-year-old woman could even think about doing this to an animal, let alone a dog that had been considered a pet. I grew up with a dog that was considered family - heck, even considered royalty by my mother sometimes!
Grim details emerged on how the woman clocked the dog a few times with a hammer because she thought the animal was sick and couldn't afford to have it euthanized.
First off, I don't care how much money you have, there are always options at local humane societies for animals that can no longer be cared for by their owners, often with little or no questions asked. Secondly, if you didn't have money to take care of the dog, than you shouldn't have had one. PERIOD. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for what this woman did.
Although I am happy to hear that "Misty" the dog has been recovering well at the Columbia County Humane Society and that the person responsible is being held accountable for her actions, I can't help but imagine the pain the dog had to endure.
There's a special place in hell for people who abuse animals. You better believe it.