“Possum Philosophy: Being a dog’s best friend can be tough - Southwest Virginia Today” plus 1 more

---

Possum Philosophy: Being a dog’s best friend can be tough - Southwest Virginia Today Posted: 03 Dec 2010 02:47 PM PST By Stephanie Porter-Nichols Published: December 3, 2010 By ROBERT "ROCKY" CAHILL/Columnist I am a dog man, have been most of my life. I got my first dog when I was about three years old. It was a beautiful cocker spaniel pup and we became fast friends. Sadly, Nixie, as I named him, (hey, I had a somewhat limited vocabulary at three OK) was stolen. I say this because he disappeared from an enclosed pen. Apparently, there was a brief time when this went on in the Saltville area. I always wondered what happened to him. As I grew older I heard folks talk about people who came through the area stealing dogs that they sold to somewhat less scrupulous laboratories for drug testing. I hope instead he was sold to some family who gave him a good home. If he did end up in a lab somewhere, I hope the thieves came to a painful end as well. I realize drugs, food additives and such must be tested for safety, but I have a better idea than testing on dogs and cats. Our prisons are full of people sentenced to death and waiting out their appeals on Death Row. This is very costly to us. Why not give them a choice? Volunteer for extensive drug testing. If they survive all the testing of various drugs and other chemicals, then release them under very and, I do mean very, closely supervised probation. As some of you may recall, Terry and I recently adopted another dog. I suppose to be more accurate, another dog adopted us. His name is Max, and I guess you'd have to say he is my dog. At least, Max thinks so (and so do I). Max came to us through a circuitous route when a good friend developed severe health problems and was no longer able to care for him. Terry came home that day with Max, a tiny black and tan Daschund pup who appeared to be terrified. After a short time he relaxed somewhat. That night we allowed him to sleep on the corner of our bed. I awoke during the night to find Max flat on his back, in the crook of my arm, head on my shoulder like a child and sound asleep. From that moment on we became best friends. Yesterday, Dec 3, I had to do something I didn't really relish, but I am doing it for Max's own good. It is "N" day. Max is going for surgery to be neutered. Lots of folks refer to it as being "fixed." I don't. There is nothing wrong with Max. In fact, things are starting to work as they should. I am doing this for his good. Animal shelters throughout the nation are full of dogs and cats for which no homes can be found. The only solution is euthanasia, a fancy way to say death penalty. It is no fault of these animals. They are there because they had no owners or the owners either no longer cared for them or were unable to do so. It is sad, but it is reality. I know most of us guys don't much care for the thoughts of this procedure, but it is better for Max. He is a little fellow. Our neighborhood has lots of folks who have dogs, some pretty good sized ones. The first time a female came in season, Max would, as any male dog will, become shall we say romantically interested. So will every other male in the area. As they seek out the opportunity to mate and produce offspring, which is the way of nature, large packs often tend to gather. Fights break out, sometimes rather vicious ones. Now Max may be a small fellow but he has heart. He would jump right in to the fray and could easily be killed or at the least seriously injured. And as we have become the typical boy and his dog, I definitely do not want that to happen. There are good reasons to get your pet neutered and none not to. Let's just run through a few. It is better for their health in the long run. Also, unless you are a breeder, while you may think you would like a litter of pups or kittens, you have to consider what you would do with them and how you would care for them, especially if there were several. Neither dogs nor cats think in terms of sexuality. They are who they are and neutering won't change that. It also won't change their tendency to protect their home and family. Further, though most folks think they will gain huge amounts of weight, they are just like people. Their body weight depends on what and how much their owners feed them. They do recommend you monitor their diet but just as we should monitor our own. And some of you may think your pet is so great you want another one just like him or her. It doesn't work that way. After all, your pet may have siblings entirely different from him or her. Besides, the pet your pet was mated with will supply half the genetic material so you would not be able to duplicate it anyway. Many of you may worry about the cost. In reality, it is a relatively inexpensive procedure. However, for many area residents, times are tight. But there is help available. Check with your local humane society. They often can guide you to vets who provide reasonably priced neutering. In addition, there is the Margaret B. Mitchell Spay/Neuter Clinic operated by the Bristol Humane Society through the benevolence of Ms. Mitchell. I had the good fortune to know Ms. Mitchell. She was a neighbor and good friend of my aunt Alice Smith, who lived in Bristol. Ms. Mitchell was a descendant of a rather wealthy family of business owners in Bristol and was quite well off. She was an animal lover and a very sweet-natured and friendly person. According to the clinic's website, http://www.mbmspayneuterclinic.org, "The clinic's focus is on serving the counties of Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington and Wise; the cities of Bristol and Norton; and the city of Bristol and county of Sullivan in Tennessee, however, animals are accepted from other counties as availability permits. Most days the clinic's transport van travels to one of the outer-lying communities, meets with the area coordinator, loads the van with animals and transports them to the clinic for surgery. Many of the communities in our target region have little or no reduced-cost spay/neuter options. The reduced-cost clinic fees charged by the clinic offset the operating costs. Public donations and grants help to subsidize the surgeries for pet owners that cannot afford to pay the fees." I am not looking forward to Max's surgery, but I know it is the right thing to do, both for him and for all of us in a way. Hopefully, by the time this is published, my boy Max will be well on his way to recovery. For more information about the procedure and the clinic, visit the above website or call 276-591-5790. A freelance journalist, Robert "Rocky" Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. His Possum Philosophy column appears in each Saturday edition.  This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

Philosophy Lite: Journey from atheism to Christianity - Victoria Advocate Posted: 03 Dec 2010 12:52 PM PST Originally published November 30, 2010 at midnight, updated December 3, 2010 at 3:20 p.m. By Raymond Smith The testimony of a former atheist who converted to Christianity can have a powerful influence. As that person relates his journey from unbelief to belief, he will not likely be doubted - his words will have a ring of credibility as he pours out his heart. For this writing, I present several men who came to believe after several years of atheism. These persons are all highly intelligent men and represent a wide spectrum of technology, science and education. One of the most famous of these was C.S. Lewis. One of the greatest Christian thinkers of the 20th century, Lewis was a respected scholar and teacher at Oxford University for 29 years and then a professor of Medieval and Renaissance literature at Cambridge University to the end of his career. An atheist throughout his early life, he adopted theism in 1929 and converted to Christianity in 1931. There were several men who influenced Lewis: G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugh Dyson. One night, he took a long walk with Tolkien and Dyson. Their words ministered to his lingering doubts and questions, and, as he said, "When we set out to Warnade Zoo, I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo, I did." The factors that went into that conversion were, the close friendship of other well-educated men, the mentoring they gave him, the ability of all of them to use reason and logic to arrive at a right decision and, most importantly, an open mind to consider the arguments. As longtime head of the Human Genome Project, Francis Collins is one of America's most visible scientists. He turned to Christianity because he found no satisfactory explanation in Darwinian evolution for the presence of moral law. He cites C.S. Lewis as key to his conversion. In his new book, "The Language of God," the title is superimposed on a drawing of the double helix. He writes that the God of the genome can be worshipped in the laboratory, as well as in the church. Marvin Olasky was an avowed atheist and Marxist in high school and a member of the Communist party in 1972. While attending the University of Michigan, he had a spiritual awakening either because of a decision to read the New Testament in Russian, or a sudden existential crisis while reading Lenin. Olasky found himself a fervent supporter of the Christian conservative movement. Baptized as a Presbyterian in 1976, he helped found the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin. While the Christian religion can easily be accepted as a child, it also makes sense to the intellectual if his mind is open to the truth. Unfortunately, many people cling to their atheism as a "religion," and are not interested in exploring the matter further. Some other men of note that converted from atheism to Christianity include Josh McDowell, Mortimer Adler, Anthony Flew, Lee Strobel, Whitaker Chambers and William Murray. Raymond F. Smith is a deacon at Fellowship Bible Church in Victoria and President of Strong Families of Victoria This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

You are subscribed to email updates from Philosophy - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610