DON’T SHOOT! I’M JUST A DOG…
February 1, 2008
I recently wrote a letter to the editor about the death of a dog-named Cain, who was shot last New Year’s Eve. What promoted my letter was an Aspen Times Weekly opinion piece by Gary Hubbell titled, “No one but yourself to blame if your dog is shot”.
The question I posed in the letter to Mr. Hubbell was, why did he think he needed to write this piece? Did he think the family who owned the dog that was killed, weren’t upset enough? I also questioned the Aspen Times as to why they thought this column was appropriate. In my opinion, the column was just plain mean and in extremely bad taste. The Times told me they do not edit their columnists. Maybe they should?
In my letter I invited Gary Hubbell to come on my Grassroots TV show, and debate the merits of his argument. He did not show, nor did I ever hear from him. Then, five minutes after I finished filming Mr. Hubbell called. Gary told me he had recently moved, but would talk with me on the phone.
I asked Gary about his column, and he explained first that he had five dogs, that the one overwhelming purpose of the column was to teach Seth Hollar, the owner of Cain, a lesson. Gary thought Seth’s letter to the editor contained a sentence toward the end that was highly inflammatory. The sentence in question, “The next time you need to take a life … you can surely bet that I know where you should start.”
I agreed Seth probably should have left that out of his letter, but come on – his dog was just murdered. Then Gary corrected me. Only human beings can be murdered. According to Webster’s dictionary, Gary was correct. I should have said that Cain was executed or slaughtered – that would have been grammatically correct.
I pointed out to Gary the police report said Cain seemed to be just walking home when he was killed, and there was no indication he had bothered any wildlife, or cows. Gary responded that the Garfield County police were “morons, and not necessarily the sharpest knives in the drawer”, and that Cain, being a Mastiff, and according to Hubbell a dog expert, is a breed with a history of chasing other animals, could have “ just killed three deer for all you know.” Gary’s right. I do not know what Cain was doing just before someone murdered, excuse me - executed him.
Gary suggested Cain might have been vicious. I tend to doubt, Seth or his wife Lisa would put their son in jeopardy. If you look at the picture in this column, Cain didn’t look very vicious to me. Cain looked like the family pet. But, what do I know? As I previously said, Gary has moved away from Aspen, although I’m not sure exactly where. When I asked him, Gary wasn’t forthcoming with that information, although he did remind me I was from New York. Why he needed to point this out I didn’t understand. Maybe he just didn’t finish his train of thought. Maybe he forgot to remind me I was also Jewish, after all he does bill himself as “The Redneck- Tree Hugger” in his column.
I am not sure why Gary has moved away. Maybe to become a teacher of life lessons, maybe wherever he has moved has a better police department, maybe because his brand of logic will play better in his new community? But, I am sure I will not miss Gary Hubbell, his thought process, or his love for man’s best friend.
