By LuAnn McLain
The work of a jury and an attorney would not normally be considered a topic to be found in a pet column. This you might find interesting. The statistics and facts are animal-related, too.
Back in the 1800s a lawsuit trial was held against a person who had killed a neighbors dog. The jury returned a verdict of twice the amount asked for and would have sent the defendant to prison had the law allowed it.
The lawyers speech to the jury is considered to be one of the main influences in the jurys verdict. Here are excerpts from George Vests speech:
The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son and daughter that he has reared with loving care may become ungrateful. ... The people who are prone to fall on their knees and do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our head. The only absolutely unselfish friend a man may have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.
A mans dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and sickness. ... He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer... He guards the sleep of a pauper as if he were a prince.
When all other friends desert, he remains. ...he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast into the cold, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws and his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.
Thanks to the Animal Welfare League of Billings/Laurel and their recent newsletter in which they printed the above story. They also provided the statistics that follow.
40% of the worlds 500 million pets reside in the US. Nearly 60% of the nations households include at least one of 70 million cats, 56 million dogs, 40 million birds, 100 million fish, 13 million hamsters and other small mammals, and 8 million reptilesaccording to pet industry surveys. Elsewhere, Britain has the highest percentage of pet ownership.
A Galapagos tortoise taken back to England by Charles Darwin in 1835 is alive and well in the Australia Zoo... Winter temperatures in the Yukon can drop to -45 degrees Celsius. Local ravens there do what they can to survive, and what they do is to cover light sensors on streetlights in the town of Whitehorse with their wings. The lights respond to the dark by turning on, giving the ravens the opportunity to warm up on top of them...
For the first time in 25 years, signs of the Canada lynx have been found in the Cascade Range of Northern Oregon. The elusive wildcats were thought to have vanished because of loss of habitat and competition from other species...
The Animal Welfare League (AWL) is a small nonprofit group dedicated to rescuing or taking in unwanted, abused and neglected animals of their geographical area, and make every attempt to adopt those animals into homes where they will receive loving care throughout their lives.
The AWL participates in the web site for Montana Pets on the Net and is one of the organizations listed on the Rainbow Bridge Memorial Page. They are located at Box 21427, Billings, MT 59104, (406) 628-6019. Look for them at montanapets.org.
Have a happy and healthy week with your companion critters. If you would like to write to Pawsitively Pets, please send your letter to PO Box 1731, Havre, MT 59501.
