Letter to a dumper

Dear unknown person,

Perhaps you are browsing through this newspaper today. If so, I imagine that upon seeing this photo you might jump – with recognition and, possibly, shock, as you are confronted by the image of the tiny pup you dumped on May 11, seemingly in the pre-dawn, garbage collection hours, when no one might have seen you.

If someone asked me to find a silver lining to your act, I would say that you chose a dumpster close to where you probably know an animal lover lives – not unlike an occasion on which someone once tied a grossly pregnant mother dog with a badly broken leg to a pipe running near my front gate.

I understand, but do not condone, your possible rationale. You may be one of many who cannot or do not want to care for animals you consider "unwanted," so you dump them where someone who cannot bear to see them suffer will find them.

Some may say, “Well, at least they didn’t dump them in a remote area, poison them or tie them in a bag and drop them into the ocean” – as others have been known to do.

Your "kind cruelty" reminds me of something a friend told me a few weeks ago – a man had informed her that he collects stray puppies, raises them to a certain age, then dumps them on beaches where he knows “them crazy white people” will pick them up and take them home. Having also encountered others who do similarly, I would say it is not an uncommon approach.

Thankfully I noticed the pup in the dirty dumpster at the corner as I headed out for a bike ride at day break. I had heard the garbage truck stop to collect merely half an hour before. Thank God they had not included the pup in their trash stash. Did you stop to think that if they had, she could have been crushed by the compactor at the back of the truck – amidst putrid meat, rotten fruits, plastic and other trashy souvenirs of mankind’s day-to-day existence? Do you consider or believe that animals have feelings?

In your "thoughtful cruelty," you did not put her in a garbage bag, as others have been known to do with unwanted baby animals. She was therefore visible to the garbage collectors who probably had the presence of mind to leave her behind...if they had noticed her at all in the dark.

When I picked her up, she screamed as if being tortured, sinking her sharp, tiny teeth into my hand. Imagine, at that young age, already exhibiting such an intense (and understandable) fear of human beings. As I walked home, pushing my bike with one hand and holding her in the other, she must have sensed some level of safety. She wagged her skinny tail, as if to say “I think I can trust you...Can I?”

Within the first few hours of her rescue, she was given food, water, a safe place to rest, a soft toy to cuddle, a vet visit, her first puppy vaccine, a worm out, a bath and anti-flea treatment.

I named her Valentine. The veterinarian said she is approximately three months old. Do you know any three-month-old children? Would you do this to them?

The next morning, a woman from Trinidad called, having seen the pup’s photo and the call for adoption. Her two-year-old twin grandsons had been begging for a pup – and the photo of this one in the dumpster tugged at her heart.

“I want my twin grandbabies to grow up with a puppy,” she told me. By Sunday night, the pup was in Trinidad, in the arms of her new family, in a loving, safe, responsible home. The grandmother of the twins has sent lovely photos of "Vallie" and the boys (an instantly inseparable trio) having fun in their large playroom.

“She too sweet, yes!” she texted.

This happy outcome does not condone your act. Dumping a living being is never the answer. Unfortunately, my wish for you is too late. I wish you had grown up, as I did, as various others have, and as those boys will, with a puppy as your best friend.

Had you had the chance to give and receive such love, you might have made a very different choice.