Letter to Editor, in Loving Memory of Our Angel.

Animals, Automobiles and Alternative Routes

By: Carmelo Bono

DUNNVILLE-Animals are beaten and killed everyday. How fitting it is that dogs seem to enjoy chasing cars often times being a large factor in why they end up underneath them. How inappropriate it feels though to know that a dog who is too elderly to shoot out into a road, and too tired to chase a car, should be killed by one. Now that I have your attention, our family is one of the unfortunate ones who lost a canine companion due to the poor driving of a motorist on a lowly rural road. If it truly were an accident, you wouldn't be reading this letter written by me now. Country roads are not "empty" or "unused". I don't want or expect that there should be police on every street corner at every hour. I do expect that the person behind the wheel is a considerate human being with a conscious though. What is meant, is that when an honest accident occurs due to whatever circumstance, whether it be careless driving, pedestrian mishap, or even a small dog limping (literally, as she had a bad hip) crossing at the wrong time, that we own up to our actions. You apologize at the very least. A person killed what we perceive as a member of our family. She was left in the street to die alone when she was later found (in the street). Found by the very person who rescued her many years ago. A naive person it must have been, to think that an honest accident would get you anything other than tears or that they may have needed to be late for an appointment, possibly even make a detour to the front door to say, "I'm sorry." That is all it would have taken to have brought peace to a family knowing it truly was an accident-that is was not just mischief. This is the second time one of our animals has been slaughtered like this. The first was when I was child (right in front of me while waiting for the school bus), and the motorist just kept speeding. I am not expecting much really, but I hope when people are on the rural roads driving or walking (heck, urban ones as well), that they understand their actions have implications. Although they may not have to see what happens there after-its important to empathize.