To the Editor:
I just finished reading the story about the dog that was shot with an arrow. It saddened me so.
You see we can have empathy and sympathy with this family because during the last week of muzzle loader season this year our family’s beautiful livestock guardian dog was shot and killed by someone trespassing. Frank was a young dog with lots of talent for tending his flock. I am sure he was only doing his job, when he went out to warn this intruder only to be gunned down for actions.
He was shot only about 100 yards from our front door. The place where he was shot was not accessible by truck or ATV, it was someone walking on that rainy Tuesday morning, somewhere they should not have been.
As a farm owner with large acreage in Polk County we cannot patrol it all, you are just at people’s mercy hoping they will only respect what you have. We have allowed hunting for the people who have come to us and asked and they are made aware of the dogs and livestock we have. It is a shame and a loss, because when things of this nature happen, everybody loses.
Hunters lose places to go and help with harvest and population control because we now fear for our animals as well as ourselves. What if our children had been out with Frank that day would or could they have been victims of someone’s senseless and careless violence, all over a deer.
– Leslie Russell, Rutherfordton