The Best of Dog, The Worst of Man

Bernie with Snookie a beautiful friendship. Makes it hard for me to understand how anyone could be cruel to an old dog.

The following disturbing story was told to Bernie and me by an old dog's owner. He did not seem to understand how cowardly and cold he had acted. He told us the story only because he was impressed with the old dog's determination.

His dog was almost blind and down to two legs, yet she still got herself up off the ground each morning and did the best she could to stay by her owner’s side. She’d been his little companion for 13 years. She rode next to him in his pickup and trotted along at his side when he worked. He had named her Little Susie. He seemed fond of her.

One day he looked down at her and noticed how old she’d become. How deaf she was. How clouded over her bright brown eyes had become. How gray her face and muzzle. He saw that she was moving on just two legs. You’d think perhaps this would have pulled on his heart. That his love and compassion for her would have expanded just a bit. That he might have found an old soft jacket or pillow to make her a more comfortable place to rest in his truck while he worked. She was so small and now also so frail. Yet, she was still trying to honor her bond to him.

Instead, the man got another man to take her. He asked the other man to take her up in the woods, near a cave they both knew of, and dump her off the cliff next to the cave. It was several miles away. He asked the man, “Would you do that for me?” Like the man was doing a huge favor for him, that would spare him the pain of saying goodbye to Little Susie.

The other man flung Little Susie off the cliff and left. He told the man he’d done what was asked of him. Five days later, dragging her battered body on two legs, Little Susie was back at her owner’s side. He shot her and put her in a hole.

She was loyal. He was a coward who never deserved the love of a dog.