Dog Howling on Mazama

Your sorrow cuts through me
Like a freshly sharpened butcher knife,
Precise, deadly, permanent.

The echo of your howl bounces
metallic off the confinement
Of your kennel-cage.

I send love and prayers, music 
Your way,
Damn the neighbors
As the sun is blue in the sky,
Or the stars shine mute on high.

You howl in your prison
And surrender to the despair
That cruelty tears in helpless souls.

Trudi Ralston
May 13th, 2010.

What is so heartbreaking about this poem is that I wrote it about a neighbor's dog two years ago. I even sent a copy of the poem to the abusive family in question, asking if there was anything we could do, like walk their dog if they were too busy themselves. I called Animal Services several times, and the answer is always the same, there is nothing anyone can do. By law, you cannot comply owners to pay attention to their dog, even if it results in misery, and evidence of it in agonizing barking and howling. As a member of the Humane Society, the Doris Day Animal League, the Humane Activist, who signs every petition for Congress for improvement of animal rights and protection, this has been very painful. I was able to successfully turn in a neighbor for cruelty, and not only did Animal Services get involved, the officer in charge of the case got so disgusted with the owner's aggressive and uncooperative nature, it was turned over to the Sheriff''s Department and the guy got three months in jail and a 500 dollar fine for documented cruelty, as I had been more than willing to provide a detailed log of the abuse including pictures. But this situation is different, as the animal is fed, in a covered kennel, so the emotional abuse and suffering caused by 24/7 confinement apparently is not an issue for Animal Services. So, each time I hear the dog, as he is only two houses away, I talk to him, soothe him,.and it seems to help. I feel helpless in this particular case and this poem is my way of making sure someone, somewhere remembers his seemingly endless solitary confinement a the hands of brutes.