It was more than a year ago I wrote what I intended to be a playful column about a world without dogs. Some folks didn’t consider it amusing and probably still hate me for it. While I was only joking about this fictitious world without dogs, there’s no doubt such a world would be free of so many dog-related hassles.
We wouldn’t have to worry about the out-of-control stray dog population which leads to euthanizing so many unwanted animals.
We wouldn’t have to worry about getting attacked or bitten by dogs while on a friendly jog. Mail carriers and meter readers around the world could rejoice.
We wouldn’t have to worry about arrangements for an animal every time we left home for the weekend.
We wouldn’t have to worry about stepping in things left for us in our yard.
And most of all, Warren County would be free of the never-ending dog sagas that seem to appear every few months. Let’s just rattle off a few that come to mind.
There’s the man who filed a dog’s teeth. There’s the lady attacked by a pack of dogs while on a walk. There’s the issue of puppies born in a sewage drain at Warren County Animal Control that sparked international outcry. There’s the incident where the Humane Society went on private property to snatch two Great Danes that were later ordered to be returned by the court.
Now we are dealing with the latest chapter of a book that’s getting quite long at this point. It should be titled “Warren County: Dog Controversy Capital of the World.” If dogs were smart enough to write things down, there would no doubt be a map in some grand doggie library that would have an enormous “X” over Warren County with the word “BEWARE” written somewhere prominently on the map.
For some reason, this community can’t make it more than a month or two without a dog scandal. The latest incident, the raid on the property of Wilma Jones, has produced a number of people who have come to her defense.
I’ve heard several folks say they have known Wilma for years and say she is a loving person who deeply cares for animals. I’ve heard more than one person say she would go without food herself before she would let one of her dogs go without food.
While I have never met Wilma, I have talked to her twice on the phone and both times she broke down in tears. She seems emotionally shaken by this incident and I can’t blame her. Having your home raided by law enforcement can’t be a pleasant experience.
That said, owning 124 dogs is too many for any person. I’m in my prime and in fairly good health and there’s no way I could properly care for 124 dogs. When you figure Wilma is in her 70s, I can’t help but think she might have been overwhelmed.
It would have been in Wilma’s best interest if she didn’t have such a daily burden with so many dogs, and it obviously would have been in the best interest of the dogs if one person wasn’t responsible for 124 of them.
While the raid and emotional trauma may be difficult for Wilma to overcome, perhaps this can turn out to be a win-win situation. So far there haven’t been any criminal charges and that’s a blessing for Wilma. Maybe she will be allowed to have a couple of her dogs returned to provide companionship and the rest will be adopted out to a better situation. Then maybe we can say the system worked.
James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191.