Constable by the Stream (A Constable Nick Mystery Book 12)

Author:Rhea, Nicholas [Rhea, Nicholas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2017-02-05T23:00:00+00:00

6. Every Dog Has His Day

Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware,

Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Although the strong and friendly relationship between an Englishman and his dog is almost legendary, there are those who mistreat Man’s Best Friend. Town and country police officers, the RSPCA, veterinary surgeons and many others can relate horror stories of our inhumane treatment, not only of dogs, but of cats, pets of all kinds, farm animals and even wild creatures. Even in these enlightened times, sadists go badger hunting and killing domestic cats for fun; they torment tiny creatures with whom they come into contact and tease the docile. Villains have been known to set fire to the manes of horses in fields, to poke out the eyes of trusting donkeys, inflate frogs with straws and shoot crossbow bolts into swimming swans and ducks. And there is worse.

But so far as dogs are concerned, the dogs’ homes of this country are full of tragedies. Unwanted Christmas presents and birthday gifts are abandoned and left to die; dogs are left without food and water or denied veterinary treatment. Happily, many of them find their way into the caring hands of the RSPCA and other good homes, but some are not so fortunate.

The on-going catalogue of cruelty is far too extensive to include in a book of this type, but it is fair to add that police officers do care for the ill-treated animals they encounter. For example, constables on patrol frequently come across stray dogs, and they are obliged to care for them, if only temporarily, until they can be provided with a new home or humanely put to death. Country police officers in particular come across wandering dogs which have been thrown out of cars in remote places simply because their owners no longer want them. Why go to the trouble of driving into the countryside to abandon one’s pet? Why not take it to a dogs’ home or some other animal sanctuary? The sick logic behind such callousness is baffling.

After living in a domestic situation, the miserable, confused animals, some little more than pups, are unable to fend for themselves in the wild. Some are shot in the belief they are sheep worriers, but many simply starve to death or get killed in accidents. Some are trapped in snares set for rabbits; others die painfully through eating poisoned carrion. A few of these castaways are fortunate because they are found and cared for, either by country folk and farmers or by those who take them into formal care.

If a person genuinely cannot cope with a dog, then it is refreshing when they do make the effort to find it a good home, but it ought to be said that police stations are not repositories for unwanted dogs, nor indeed any kind of animal.

On a temporary basis, the staff of a police station will care for a lost or stray dog, but eventually the unwilling visitor will be removed to the nearest dogs’ home or, failing that, destroyed.

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