It is 7:00 a.m. and I am on my way to work.  I make a regular stop each day, not too far from where I live.  I am looking at a dog, a big dog, with thick shaggy matted fur.   He lives on a chain, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.   He never goes inside the house and his owners never come out to him, except to toss some food and water into his bowls.   During thunderstorms, he is wild with fear.   He barks frantically and pulls on the chain with all his might.  He desperately tries to find somewhere, anywhere to hide from nature's fury, but nobody heeds his cries.  When the hot summer sun beats down, he tries to escape its relentless heat.   His doghouse is like and oven, so he digs holes in the cool earth and lies in them, panting violently.

Once again it is winter, and the snow banks are piled high around his doghouse.  I look each day hoping to see footprints in the snow to show me evidence that he is being tended to; most days I am so disappointed I could just cry for him.  Sometimes if I call he will poke his nose out from his doghouse, but these past few days it has been so cold and windy, he doesn't bother.   I pull my coat tighter around myself and get back into my warm car.  He has no warm place to crawl.   The wind just whips through his doghouse, as the boards are not sturdy.

Today for the first time, I asked his owner's what his name is.....the reply to me was "we don't really have a name for him."   I ask politely why he is not allowed off his chain.   I am told, "he might scare the cows."  I push it a little further and ask how old he is.   I am told he is 6 years old, and they got him as a pup.

He has no name, no companionship, neither human nor canine.  He has no life.  He just sits dejectedly on the end of his chain and watches the endless dull days go by.  Although he has done nothing wrong, he is treated worse than our most dangerous criminals.

This shouldn't happen to "Man's Best Friend", but it does.  He is hardly any protection to this family as he is tied very far from the house, behind a silo.  Companionship?  Well, again, as I was told, he hasn't even a name.  I ask, "Why do they call then man's best friend?"

If you see a dog or dogs in a similar situation, and you suspect they are not being cared for properly, PLEASE report it to your local Humane Society in writing, or contact me, Kimberly at kismutt@sympatico.ca    I will do my very best to help rectifiy the situation.

Kimberly Thomas - St. Marys, Ontario