The Editor
The photo on the front page of the Province does not portray a “beloved pet”, instead it looks like the typical chained dog. Ears flattened back, a confused, bewildered expression on its face and the windows to the soul, the eyes, speaking silent volumes of what this poor dog’s life must have really been like for the past 8 years.
A “beloved pet” does not carry the weight of a 20 foot chain around its neck, is not left outside alone in the cold and the dark with no one to reassure him during the long night.
The photo of Tommy inside the house is obviously one of Tommy as a young puppy and is misleading. It would seem that Tommy’s life was like many of the dogs in the Lower Mainland, the family acquires a young puppy and once the novelty has worn off and it becomes bigger, or sometimes while it is still a very young puppy, it is chained up outside to act as a door bell and that is its life until it dies.
It is very sad that Tommy had to die this way, however it is just as sad that he had to live that way. It is no consolation that he may have died a slow death at the end of his 2O foot chain !
FOTA Rescue Society