My slender little mutt, the day I picked him up from the Friendship Animal Protective League in Elyria.

In an early post on this blog, I described the process of getting a dog.

The TV show, Star Trek: Enterprise convinced me to get a beagle.  A news article about 42 beagles getting rescued from a house in Lakewood got me motivated to go to the pound.

Sparky was not one of that lot, but after a news report like that, it’s hard not to wonder how that situation came to be.

Danny and Kenzie’s wedding was officiated by a Lakewood judge who is a friend of her family.  We got to talking, and she told me that she was presided over that case.  She explained what happened.

The son of the Lakewood man, had passed away.  The son left two beagles that the dad took in.  The two beagles had puppies.  Then more puppies, then more puppies.  The inside of the house was appalling. 

After reading a news report about too many animals kept in a house, it’s reasonable to imagine that the interior of the house is deplorable.  I usually suppose the problem started small, and slowly grew until the situation was untenable.

The Lakewood story is stupid, as most of these are.  The guy could have had the two beagles spayed or neutered.  Problem solved.  Alternatively, take them to an animal shelter.  Or, sell the pups.

There is a relevant quote from Theodore Roosevelt:

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”