After reading Judy Vorreuter's column, “I found your abandoned dog today.” I have a few questions. I agree that abandoning a pet is horrible and doing so can have a sad ending but did it have to end this way? This dog and her puppies came to the attention of the SPCA and then were turned over to the dog warden who killed the mother. Why didn't SPCA Director Russell take the dog and its puppies?

Why did Carl Collier make a quick end to the mother dog? And none of the puppies survived? Did he provide any medical care to the mother or the puppies to at least try to save them? Or should that have been the job of the SPCA? What responsibility does an animal organization have to animals and the public?

Although Judy's poem was sad, I think it was much sadder how the SPCA and Carl Collier handled the matter. As far as Carl Collier, his business is just animal control, not animal protection, but he also needs to be held accountable. What we needed was caring and compassion but instead we got the message, bad owners mean death.

I think all parties and the public should read Nathan Winograd's new book, “Redemption: Building a No-Kill Society,” which discusses the role of SPCAs and animal control and their attitudes in this very matter that I'm writing about. We need to move to that new vision that doesn't punish the animal for the actions of the owner.

Then through education and enforcement of the cruelty laws and demanding our animal organizations do the right thing, we can turn a sad ending into a happy one.

Rita Sarnicola

Auburn

Sarnicola is owner ofThe Animal Resource Center.