In the early hours of Saturday morning I was woken by a coward. People may be unaware how efficiently sound travels in the quiet darkness of Mullumbimby.
I heard the voice of a ‘man’, his shouting punctuated with the effort of striking or kicking something (unseen to me) as he walked down the street. He was repeatedly accusing a dog of costing him more money at the pound after running away from home again.
My heart broke as I bore witness to a human apparently disrespecting another voiceless being.
I do not know the identity of the shouting person, but if you read this, perhaps consider why your dog is so keen to be apart from you.
A companion animal is capable of empathic, unconditional relationship with humans.
To take advantage of this relationship is the ultimate example of human arrogance. Your sense of ownership, power and control is misplaced.
Name withheld, Mullumbimby
Dear ‘Name Withheld’. Maybe rather than writing an indignant letter to the Echo what you should have done was get out of bed and go and do something about it. The animal continued to endure the beating and you did nothing to stop it. Shame on you.