READ AND THINK

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 58, 21 March 1944, Page 7

READ AND THINK

WHY DID YOU KILL HIM,

MISTER ?

This is not a letter that begin* •'dear so and so," and ends '"with' kind regards." Ah! no! This is a letter that asks a stark, grim question first.

WHY 1)11> YOU #ILL YOUR KRIKND? IJeeauso I saw you kill him, Mister, and il made mo very sick to watch you. i .saw you bring liiJn in your oar, saw him get out, saw him roach his paws to your chest. and lick your chin, and bark joyously. He thought the nearby park meant a run for him. 11,0 didn't know that, you wore taking him in to die. And I watched him die, Mister, and so did you.

You watched them take him by his good, strong nock, and lift him into that lethal chamber. You watched while his. great brown eyes sought, yours in sudden panic. You watched while the lirst sharp agony sent him terrified to the glass windows of that deadly box to look for his beloved master! And f saw him find you, Mister. I saw his brown eyes, in which the lighLs were dying, come alive with sudden hope. I saw his tail wag once—twice. And then I saw him call to you, though I couldn't hear his bark. Remember, Mister, how his head sank to rest just between those of a baby Golden Spaniel and a little Chow? Some time ago, they had gone through their Gethsemane. Remember how his pleading eyes changed to a fixed, dead stare? How his Hp,s lifted in a frozen grin, as lii.s life choked out? Perhaps- he grinned in that last dire moment at his faith in vou who killed him.

AND YOU, MISTER? What did YOU do? Smoked a cigarette while your good dog died. Mister, what kind oi' a human being ARE you?

•Then you watched them take hfm out, and take the golden Spaniel out and the little Chow, and lay tlicm on a great heap of doggies just as dead ns they were, because a line of others waited with wagging tails and trusting eyes to die in that lousy box. And you said, "Too bad they didn't give a ration lor pets,'* and walked away. Yes, you'said PETS! Damn you!

WHAT DID YOU KILL HIM FOR, MLSTKR? You know ho oats :i dozen foods besides meat. You know of dog biscuits, of oatmeal, of bread and gravy, of meal, and bones and scraps • —all plentiful and cheap. Then there arc waste meats, and soups and vegetables. There is a little milk— sometimes even fish. Hut you didn't care, did you, Mister? Ft was .so much simpler to .suffocate him with coal tar gas. He who would flic for you. just wasn't worth a passing thought. Mister, a man like you would not have killed him unless you thought there was no penalty—except lor him. But think again. Have you not heard of the warnings given by HI>M Who notes even the sparrow's fall? Of Him Who has said, "Vengeance Is Mine!" Yes, Mister, YOU'LL for what you did. When things go wrong for you, don't wonder why. MISTER.. WHY DID YOU KILL , HIM ? Couldn't you even play the yaiue with a faithful dog ? —J. C. Bendrodt. We feel sure the above letter, which was given prominence in the/ Sydney Press, will be of interest to readers Avho are animal lovers, indeed to many thousands also who may not be particularly fond of animals. The attitude of those who had their so-called "pel's" slaughtered without rhyme or reason before meat rationing commenced to operate, without giving them a chance, is despicable, and if they read the above letter they must now be feeling thoroughly ashamed of themselves, that is, of course, if they have, any finer feelings which is doubtful. They probably belong to the class referred to in one of our Charges as being "destitute of all genuine principles."