Every day we turn on our televisions to the sad news of abuse and neglect. We are inundated with the truth that we live in a world where people kill each other for sport and wars are being fought for little more than a disagreement over which deity to worship. Far worse than people hurting each other, however, are the innocent victims of our hatred, cruelty, and gross apathy.
We’ve all seen the commercials. Sad songs crooning over a montage of pathetic, helpless animals whose previous owners no longer deemed it necessary to do their duty and simply threw these poor creatures away. Left to starve, freeze, or cook in the elements these animals are forced to survive until, hopefully and mercifully, someone rescues them. And all we can do is pray that whoever finds them is taking them in with the intent of saving them, or bringing them to a shelter where they can be cared for until they find a loving home.
Too often, though, instead of salvation these dogs and cats are beaten, shot at, and killed or simply left to die after suffering their torture. Left to spend their last breaths wondering what they could possibly have done to deserve such treatment from strangers, or worse, the families they once loved.
Good, decent people see these pictures and hear these stories and their hearts break. They count their pennies, check and recheck their living arrangements in hopes they will figure out some way to help.
Maybe I can convince my husband to get just one more dog.
If we buy the cheaper brand of cat food, it won’t be any more expensive to feed three cats instead of two.
God, I wish there were some way I could help.
But even with all of our efforts, it will never be enough to save them all. And that is the worst feeling of all. The feeling of helplessness; of knowing that no matter what we do, we will fail. So we continue to watch the sad TV spots, to spread the word however we can. And we grow angry. Our impotence leads to frustration, pleading, and even hatred for whomever could commit such disgusting and inhumane acts against any creature, let alone one so trusting and loyal.
Who, we wonder, could be so empty that they could do this to an animal without flinching? Who could bear to commit and walk away from this? What kind of evil is in the heart of the person who allowed something like this?
Unfortunately, we don’t have the answer. We may never find it. All we can do is keep helping and supporting those who make a positive difference in the lives of these beautiful, innocent souls. And while we do that, another question may arise – Who could witness crimes like these and choose to do nothing about them? For that we have an answer. But sometimes knowing is worse, because it isn’t easy to look into the face of true evil.
