All creatures great and small…

Sir,
Thank you to all the people of Dundee who tirelessly donate money to the SPCA, and for their and the SPCA’s care and concern.
Myself as a resident of Dundee, as well as a few other residents, are concerned about the ill-treatment of animals in our area. Cases have been reported to the SPCA, who have responded by saying that their ‘hands are tied’. Dogs are kept in cages for long periods of time (Douglas Street) and others on unacceptably short leashes (Harvey Street).
Dogs are left alone for hours on end, and even for days without company of any sort (Union and Beaconsfield Streets).
Where I live in Melville Street we often hear dogs howling pitifully – a sure sign of neglect! I have owned dogs for the past 40 years and have never once heard them howl!
The SPCA’s National Council has said that we need to educate our people.
Animals, besides being fed have other needs – love, care and attention – as well as physical needs.
It is possible, as individuals, to approach the abusers ourselves in a friendly and polite way and make them aware of their neglect, ignorance or abuse towards their animals, with the sincere hope that they will understand and change.
We dare not have a ‘hands are tied’ attitude, but must persist. People need to be reminded of words from the famous hymn: “…all creatures great and small… God made them all.”
In Anna Sewells’s award-winning novel Black Beauty she writes:
“My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.”
Sandy Browning