A recent letter in your forum made me think of a house in downtown Saco, well over a decade ago, that had a rather scraggly looking dog on a chain in the backyard pretty much 24/7. On occasion, the Saco Police would get noise complaints on barking, for which I think there’s a very specific ordinance, but short of that, the contributor was correct: As long as the animal’s needs are being met, not much can be done about perceived cruelty.
For every dog you see tied up or in a cage outside, there are at least a dozen left in cages all alone, all day, every day inside that never make the papers.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Since the constant drumbeat of the fear mongerers has successfully implanted the idea that it’s immoral for a dog to be left in a car for 30 seconds at the supermarket, that might be the reason the dog is left at home.
And since we’ve also come to accept the idea that any dog off a leash is a menace to society, that could be another reason that dog is in its cage.
And let’s not even entertain the idea of that dog walking on Old Orchard Beach, now that a single piping plover nest has been found, otherwise risk getting “neutralized” by U.S. Fish & Wildlife snipers perched in the nearest clock tower.
I’m being facetious, of course, but I’m just making the point that we are very conflicted about proper dog care in our society. Hardly a month goes by that I don’t get some kind of lecture about mine, and it gets old.
I applaud towns like Kennebunk, which has one of the few leash-free beaches in the area. In my mind, real cruelty is keeping a golden retriever on a leash when he or she literally lives to chase that ball thrown into the surf.
Bill Thomas, Sanford
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