I'm sorry if I come across as being callous and hard folks, but I honestly believe we need to confront the uncomfortable if we are to prevent bad situations from happening. To console ourselves is ok as long as we're looking objectively at our situation and striving for improvement. Care of animals is a major concern of mine, and in that light I thought I'd share with you one of my freshman essays. Feel free to rip me apart. We all make mistakes, but we need to recognize our mistakes so we don't repeat them.
Rosco
The morning sunshine beamed through the trees and warmed Rosco as he lay sleeping on the front porch. Rosco was sleeping peacefully, as dogs do, after a hard night of barking at the neighbor dogs. His brother Charlie and sister Suzie were already awake and running around the yard. They were crunching leaves that had fallen off of the trees during the previous week. The early fall weather was beautiful. None of the dogs had any idea where they were going to be by the end of the day.
Bob awoke early that morning. The crisp October air felt cool and aroused him earlier than he was accustomed. Bob yawned, and then rolled upright and stumbled over to the window to shut it. He had been debating a dilemma in his mind that had plagued him for several weeks. On one hand, he could give the unwanted dogs to the humane society. He knew that the dogs would likely be euthanized. The other option he had was to take the dogs into the country and dump them. After Bob got out of bed, he finally decided that he would dump the dogs. He had visions of the dogs running through meadows and chasing deer and rabbits. Bob was not a mean person; he sincerely thought that dumping the dogs would be in their best interest.
Rosco finally awoke and joined his siblings in their game of chase when he heard the front screen door bang shut. “Come on pups!” shouted bob as he walked toward the dogs with some biscuit and bacon in his hand. The dogs readily took the food from his hand, and then they began jumping on him, eager for Bob to join in their game. They followed Bob over to the car and jumped into the back seat when he opened the door. All of the dogs were excited because they all loved to go on car rides. Rosco watched their house as the car drove away, not knowing that this would be the last time he would ever see home. The temperature had already begun to rise and the dogs held their heads out of the window as the car sped down the road.
After going about two miles down a dirt road, Bob stopped the car. He let the dogs out and then watched as they began to run around in a vacant field. He couldn’t help thinking that the dogs would be happy and have lots of things to do out in the middle of nowhere. Bob didn’t have any idea that there was a pack of wild coyotes just beyond the creek on the far side of the field. He looked at the dogs one last time, and then hopped in his car and sped away. As Rosco watched his master’s car fading in the distance, he felt abandoned for the first time in his life. Charlie and Suzie were still playing chase, and Rosco soon rejoined them.
Dusk was closing in around the hillside, and the dogs had to find a place to sleep for the night. Fall was a peaceful time in Arkansas. The oppressive heat of summer was beginning to give way to the refreshing coolness of fall. The crisp night air signaled that winter was not far off. In the distance, the pack of coyotes made noise as they howled at the moon. The howling sounded very lonesome and invoked fear in the little three-month-old dogs.
The dogs awoke at daybreak to the sound of wild birds singing merrily. Morning was the time of day that Bob usually fed them. The woods next to the field where the dogs were lying seemed strange and unfamiliar. This place was very different from the city neighborhood that the dogs were accustomed to. There was no food, no water, and no warm bed to sleep in. The dogs were becoming hungry, but they didn’t know where to get any food. They began playing again. Noon came, and they found a creek where they could get water. The water was cool and refreshing. As day expired and night drew near, the dogs once more bedded down to sleep. They were hungry and tired.
The sound of the coyotes drew closer around ten o’clock that night. They were starving, ravenous beasts that were vicious from years of surviving in the wild. The coyotes pounced on the sleeping dogs. Charlie was overcome immediately. Rosco was awakened by the sound of Charlie yelping as the coyotes devoured him alive. The coyotes had no qualms about eating three young, plump puppies. Rosco and Suzie ran for their lives. After running about 200 yards, Rosco turned and looked over his shoulder to see Suzie being overtaken by the two coyotes that were not busy with Charlie. This would be the last time Rosco would see his siblings.
Rosco did not sleep any more that night. A cold front came through bringing with it an early snowstorm. Rosco huddled up next to a huge oak tree and shivered while he attempted to keep warm. He was extremely hungry, but did not have any source of food. The morning revealed an extreme sense of stillness and calm. The storm was gone and the whole world seemed transformed. The occasional squirrel chatter or falling tree limb echoed over the snow covered ground and gave the world a hollow feeling.
A week had passed since the snowstorm. The only food Rosco had acquired had been a rabbit he had caught three days before. Rosco’s inexperience as a hunter was painfully obvious as everything he had tried to catch had gotten away. The only reason he had caught the rabbit was because it was young and slow. Rosco’s ribs were beginning to show through his sides. He was malnourished. If he didn’t find some food, he would soon starve to death.
All of a sudden, Rosco heard a chainsaw running in the distance. David Brown was busy cutting firewood. He was a farm owner and had a thriving cattle operation. Rosco headed for the noise. He soon saw David’s house in the distance. Next to the house was a chicken coop. As Rosco got closer to the coop, he heard David’s expensive, prize winning Rhode Island Red chickens happily clucking. Rosco’s stomach began aching, and his adrenaline started flowing as he got close to the chicken coop. The coop was open and the chickens were busy scratching for bugs in the front yard. Rosco rushed at the biggest hen he saw and strangled her neck between his teeth. He was hungry and devoured the whole hen in less than two minutes. He made quick work of three other chickens before he stopped.
After lying in the sun for a couple of hours while the chicken digested, Rosco started feeling rambunctious. A few hundred feet away he could hear cows and calves bawling. Rosco couldn’t resist, so he ran after a group of calves. About this time, David finished cutting wood and was returning to the house. He saw Rosco chasing his calves. David had numerous calves injured and even killed over the years when stray dogs came and ran them through fences, or chased them until they were sick. He knew what he had to do, and went in his house to get his rifle. With one clean shot he ended Rosco’s life.
After seeing so many dumped, starving dogs over the years, David resented people who dumped their dogs. He knew that dumping is not only illegal, it is unethical. Town dogs cannot survive in the wild. Dumping them is cruel, not only to the dog, but to the people who eventually take care of them. David had lost many dollars worth of livestock over the years. Every calf that was lost cost him approximately 800 dollars. He knew that most people just didn’t understand the situation they put their dogs and him into. David had shot more than his share of stray dogs, and this was a job he did not like. He knew that if Rosco had been taken to the humane society, he would have had the chance of being accepted by another family. If euthanization had been necessary, Rosco would not have suffered at the humane society. David walked back into his house as the cool evening air signaled the end of another day.