The Burnt Dog

A pit bull dog was badly burned from a garage fire. The dog was recovered and taken to an animal organization. Separately at that time, 5 dogs I recovered were turned over to the same animal organization, including three pit bull puppies. Later one of the veterinarians from the animal organization told me that the burnt dog was kept alive, and that surgeries were being performed on the dog. The veterinarian said he did not know why the dog was being kept alive, why it was being submitted to so much suffering and pain, and why so much effort was being made for that one dog, especially because pit bulls at that time were commonly euthanized by this organization and not made available for adoption. The three pit bull puppies, three healthy dogs not requiring any surgery, were euthanized. A number of months later an article was written in a newspaper regarding how the burnt dog had been adopted by a cancer survivor, and how wonderful was the outcome for all. But not all, I thought, for the three healthy pit bull puppies had no sentimental free publicity value unlike the burnt dog.