While driving to my favorite local restaurant for breakfast the other morning I noticed a continuous reddish line in the middle of the driving lane for about a mile. We have had construction going on in this area, but not that close to our house. Maybe garbage was leaking from a garbage truck, but the garbage trucks don’t run in this area on Tuesdays. It was really puzzling and I couldn’t figure it out.
When my wife got home from work that evening, she asked me if I had noticed what I just described. She had seen it on her way to work that morning as well. I replied that I had, but did not know what it was. She then told me what she was reading from a local TV news station app.
A man was taking his child to school, and the night before his young son had tied their dog, a purebred boxer, to the bumper of his truck. He wasn’t aware of this and drove on. The dog was dragged for at least a mile. It was discovered and rushed to the local animal hospital by some “good Samaritans.” The veterinarian provided the following information as stated in the local newspaper:
The dog’s shoulder was nearly severed. It had major road burns, road rash that was full thickness, and pretty much covered the right side of his head and face. It had severed his tongue. His right eye was severely damaged, and on the left side nearly 40 to 50 percent of his skin was gone. He was in third degree shock when he was brought in and already in the process of dying. The veterinarian had to euthanize the dog. At the site where the dog was dragged and left, there were marks along the road, blood, pieces of skin tissue, and bone.
It literally made me sick at my stomach when I realized what we saw was the result of this poor animal being dragged to death. I don’t feel much better now having to type this and being reminded of it. I cannot imagine the fear and pain it went through.
The incident itself was an accident, from what we know so far.
We certainly don’t want to see any animal suffer, especially to the degree that this boxer dog did. It just breaks your heart to realize the terror and pain it suffered. Now, every time we go down the road, we are reminded of this tragic incident because the marks are still on the road we travel.
The point of this article is now coming into view. I know many of you are as upset as I am; the knot in the stomach, the sickening feeling, the waves of pity for an unfortunate animal. If the suffering of an animal can affect us to this degree, how are we affected over the suffering of babies who are even more helpless in their mothers’ wombs and aborted? How does it make us feel when we hear of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ suffering in foreign countries by the hands of murderous thugs?
The reality of suffering is not a pretty sight. When a baby is aborted, it is ripped to pieces, while alive, until it is removed from the womb. Men, women and children suffer physical and emotional wounds by the devil’s brigade that are beyond describing. Does it make us sick to our stomach, or do we just toss that thought in the ditch and go on about our day?
There are millions of people who are not suffering now, but will suffer the tortures of hell upon their arrival, because they never called upon Jesus Christ while they were alive. Do we care enough to warn them?
People are already up in arms over the sad plight of this poor dog that was dragged to its death. I understand that.
As tragic as physical suffering is while on this earth, it cannot compare to the eternal suffering of a lost soul in hell. As Christians, we need to ask God to show us what we can do to be an ointment for the pain of those suffering now. What can we do to prevent at least some of it? Especially, “Lord guide me in sharing the Gospel so that eternal suffering can be avoided by at least some.”
If we are not affected as deeply by abortion and people dying and going to hell as we are over the tragic death of a dog, God help us.
Grant Phillips