LETTERS: STORY ABOUT DOG WAS VERY TOUCHING

To the editor:

I never had a pet dog, but my heart still goes out to the precious little black dog that had such an untimely way of dying. It was alone in a house and burned to death when the owners were away and the house burned to the ground. How sad to learn the lady lost both her husband and puppy on the same day.

A pet dog can become very special to a family. Dogs are so sensitive and smart. Pets can be good therapy for one who is lonely as well as one who is ill. That is very true.

Sometimes strange things can occur. The same day I read of the burning house in Gordonville with the little dog in it, I received a telephone call from my nephew in Tulsa telling me of the grief his daughter was feeling over the loss of her beloved little puppy.

Often, dogs can have the same illnesses as that of humans. Samantha, the dog, had many of these. However, she liked her toast, scrambled eggs and watermelon. She ate that as much as she could and as long as she could. She did not die along, though, since her true friend slept beside her on the rug the night before she died.

Samantha was wrapped in a cloth and buried in the back yard along with her favorite toy.

Somehow, that story along with the burning dog stuck with me, and I just had to write about it. Do you sometimes find that to be true with you also?

PAULA E. KEMPE

Cape Girardeau