What a terrible start to the year we are off to.
It seems that hopes of leaving the doom and gloom of 2009 behind us with the ringing in of the New Year may have been optimistic, but there is still plenty of time left to salvage a really good year out of this really rough start.
To our ear, some of the most depressing news of the week is how the economy is forcing people out of their homes, which has the related effect of forcing pets out of their homes as well.
As a result, the Lincoln County Animal Shelter currently has a small population of adult dogs wondering what the heck they ever did to deserve their new, clean, but clearly not homey, home.
This is particularly bad for older dogs who likely did not want to be given up, and as a group, they are also the least likely to find a new home.
This is no disparagement on the good folks who run the animal shelter. They do a great job doing what they can but the shelter is still, well, a shelter.
It doesn’t smell like a family home. There is no warm hearth to curl up in front of, much less a TV absorbed human on the couch to curl up next to.
This is no disparagement, too, on the no doubt heartbroken pet owners who had to deliver their loved ones to the shelter due to significant economic distress. Nobody gives up a beloved companion because they want to.
It says something about the times we are living in when a person’s choices come down to that. It must be like deciding to give your baby up for adoption when that is your best option, simply because there is no other choice.
