Letters

From all-creatures.org
and The Mary T. and
Frank L. Hoffman
Family Foundation

Letter from Roberta Wright to the Editor: Euthanizing Is Easy - 21 Nov 2010

To the Editor of the Arizona Daily Star:

The sad story about Target, the dog who was mistakenly euthanized in Arizona after saving soldiers’ lives from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, probably brings tears to everyone’s eye who has heard it. Mistakes like these are made because we take our companion animals’ lives for granted, and we have become immune to any sadness that comes from killing the surplus.

A surplus caused exclusively by human beings.

The lesson we should take from this tragedy is that every animal turned in to a shelter is special in some way, despite our society teaching us just the opposite. These overpopulation surpluses are simply throw-away items. We never have the opportunity to find out exactly how unique each life is because we are allowed to kill with such ease. Target was just another example of our learned insensitivity.

Sincerely,

Roberta S. Wright, Founder
Supporting and Promoting Ethics for the Animal Kingdom (SPEAK)