MAY I THANK THE NATION for promoting, through your feature writer Heather-Lynn Evanson, concern about our canine friends who share this beautiful island with us (January 25, pages 40 and 3).
Many have wonderful, caring owners. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other animal sanctuaries are blessed for the work they do.
The volunteers, many of them just school kids, demonstrate time and again that all God’s creatures have their place in our world and are very special.
However, we all know that people keep animals, supposedly as pets, for all sorts of reasons which have nothing to do with loving kindness.
The examples given in Evanson’s article are ample testimony that some dog owners can be very cruel indeed.
Are these people somehow estranged from life? To suggest, as THE NATION does, that this arises from harsh economic conditions and the cost of dog food, with the consequence that owners are agonising about feeding their children at the expense of their dogs, is simply a cop-out.
The overriding significance of Evanson’s article is its implicit suggestion that it’s time for us to confront the sort of people we really are, and what we really have to offer our world – whether it’s wanton cruelty and selfishness, or whether it’s loving hearts and an understanding that all have value and purpose in the divine order. After all, we do say we’re a Christian country, don’t we?
– REVEREND CLIFFORD HALL
