A Virginia Beach man shot his dog and buried her at the beach. Now he's explaining why. [More]It may not meet the legal definiton of "crueltly," but come on, he thinks it's OK for everyone to use a public beach as a shallow grave Pet Sematary?
Once more we turn to"Family Guy"... I wonder if we're going to have a spate today?
[Via Mack H]
I lost both my Greyhounds (both rescued racers) to cancer in 07. My male developed bone cancer in his right shoulder. I could have kept him around with meds and removing his right foreleg but I didn't want him to suffer. I took him to a vet nearby (great guy! awesome vet!) and had him put down. I held his head as the light went out of his eyes. One of the hardest things I ever did. That was in February. In December we got up one morning with blood in places all around the house and my female grey with blood coming out of her anus. The vet said it was colon cancer. I held her head as before. In both cases I had the remains cremated and their urns are on my computer desk. I understand some of where the guy was coming from but I can NOT understand the shallow grave at a public beach. He should have done the responsible thing and taken the remains to a vet for proper disposal. A bullet to the head is a darned quick way to go. The brain shuts down faster than either the report of the weapon or the pain of the wound can be perceived. No cruelty involved.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest problem with him is this:
ReplyDelete“I used a small-caliber firearm and I dispatched it myself.”
That might not do the job swiftly and mercifully depending on what that was.
I share your concern about the caliber choice, but I suspect it might have been all he had on hand, or all he felt he could use safely in the confines of his garage. (I personally wouldn’t even chance that, but I won’t second-guess him). Virginia Beach isn’t exactly the 19th century Texas panhandle, either, and something more decisive would almost certainly have been out of the question in his neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteThis story resonates with me, because it precisely parallels the watershed incident in my life that converted me from a supporter of Handgun Control, Inc. into a firearms activist and an NRA instructor. You can read about it in Alan Korwin’s “Your First Gun.”
I have since buried (on my own property) many dogs, but have never had to use a firearm to put one down. However, I have had to put down a dying horse personally. I chose a 12ga slug as most likely to disrupt the brain humanely, and carefully studied where to place it. But I have the luxury of living a half mile away from my closest neighbor.
To me, the only note about this story that was less than believable was his claim that he didn’t realize that burying his pet on a public beach would be illegal. That’s just a bit hard to credit.