Jim Williams, guest columnist: Because we love them

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November 21, 2009

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Sat Nov 21, 2009, 08:53 AM CST

Recent articles in the Globe’s Opinion section criticized city officials and others for being more concerned about an animal shelter than a homeless shelter.

I find their views to be contrary to fact. As an animal lover, especially dogs, I believe every life whether homeless humans or animals need to be saved. I further believe it is important to come to the defense of helpless cats and dogs who cannot speak for themselves; often abused, abandoned, and put to death through no fault of their own. Annually, it’s estimated over one million cats and dogs are destroyed in the United States.

Approximately 65 percent of the households own pets. These beautiful animals are more than family, they become guardians in our sleep, and give us unconditional love. Dogs play an important role in our society, they’re used by police officers, military, blind people and rescue searchers, and used for detecting medical conditions. It’s been evidenced that caring for a pet can add years to our lives, i.e., lowering blood pressure, in some cases remission of diseases, and giving us a more positive outlook in our senior years.

Driving by Souls Harbor, seeing homeless children and adults saddens me greatly. To see a wretched abandoned pet by the side of the highway, or a sick abused cat or dog struggling to survive is also disturbing. They knock over garbage cans to search for a morsel of food; anything to end hunger pains. They’re America’s invisible suffering. The money to build the much needed animal shelter is coming from public donations, not funded by the city. You can bet your bottom dollar those who donate to animal shelters are also donating to the homeless through the American Red Cross, Souls Harbor, Salvation Army and other charities.

Simply put: God placed these lovely creatures on earth to enrich our lives. Morally, we have a responsibility to these animals to give them a decent life: food, water, shelter and respect for their lives. That’s not asking a lot for the love they so generously return to us. But for millions of homeless animals in the United States, it means the difference between life and death. Importantly, we should never neglect the poor, sick and homeless people, as this would be a sin.

While I don’t always agree with Dianne Slater’s political views, her article (Globe, Nov. 11) titled “It’s not a choice” was well written and put the animal shelter issue in proper perspective. Hopefully her letter will help educate Mary Lou Bower and Wayne King in understanding the reasons for constructing the new animal shelter. Winter is fastly approaching, both shelters desperately need our help to carry them through a cold winter.

A quote from Mark Twain, “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.”

Jim Williams lives in Joplin

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Jim Williams, guest columnist: Because we love them

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