Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 11, 2014

8

JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS

Mountain Views-News Saturday, October 11, 2014


LOOKING FOR A BEST FRIEND?

“SAVE EXCALIBUR” 
CAMPAIGN FAILS


Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc

Looking for a best friend? Tyson is a 6 year old 
beagle mix that was found as a stray. Although he 
had a microchip, the owner could not be traced, 
and Tyson is now available for adoption.

 Tyson is a big boy at 25 pounds, but he loves 
going for walks and is easy to handle on leash. 
He loves people and enjoys getting attention, 
although he is not demanding. He has a happy, 
friendly personality, with a medium energy level. 

 Tyson is alert and seems to be a smart dog. He 
knows a few commands, and would be happy to 
learn more. He would no doubt do well with some 
training.

 Tyson has been kenneled with two different 
smaller dogs, and he seems to take a nurturing 
role with them. He’s is a very sweet boy, easy going 
and loving.

 Tyson would flourish in a home where he gets 
regular exercise and is treated as a member of the 
family. He’s a very handsome boy with a short coat 
that would be easy to care for – all he needs is a 
loving home to call his own.

 Hope would love to meet you and is hoping you 
will come to the shelter soon. She is hoping you 
are the one she is waiting for! 

 He currently resides at the San Gabriel Valley 
Humane Society located at 851 E. Grand Avenue 
in San Gabriel with his roommate. We are located 
off San Gabriel Blvd., north of Mission and south 
of Las Tunas. 

 To arrange a ‘Meet and Greet’ with Tyson, 
please stop by any time from 10:00am to 4:30pm 
Tuesday thru Sunday. 

 His adoption fee is $120 which includes a 
microchip, spay surgery, first vaccinations 
and a free wellness check-up at a participating 
veterinarian. He is eligible for our reduced-fee 
Senior For Senior program. Feel free to call us at 
(626) 286-1159 for more information on Tyson. 

 See our website at www.sgvhumane.org for 
information and photos of all our available pets. 

Of late, I’ve been wondering if I am the only one 
who has a difficult time differentiating between 
what is really going on in the world, versus what 
the people who speak through the media would 
like us to think is happening in the world today.

 Notwithstanding my lack of trust in what the 
talking heads have to say, recent over-the-top 
news coverage on the Ebola virus has caught 
my attention. They say it started in Africa and 
has begun to spread to the US and other parts of 
the world, leaving me somewhat concerned as to 
when it might arrive in my local community. I 
do hope they are wrong, and I’d rather err on the 
safe side, if at all possible.

 The population of humans living on earth has 
grown exponentially over the past several decades, 
which makes me also wonder if disease might 
be a means by which God uses less-than-best 
circumstances to help keep our human numbers 
‘in check’. Since the 1995 release of “Outbreak”, 
a feature film that I can’t help thinking of every 
time I see news updates regarding the current 
Ebola epidemic, the human race has proliferated 
to unprecedented numbers. Please forgive me for 
admitting that in my opinion, if this disease is as 
threatening as we’re told, perhaps it is meant to 
be.

 One of the many recently released news casts 
related to Ebola was about a nurse from Spain 
who contracted the disease while working in 
Africa, and was presumed to have come into 
close contact with her dog, Excalibur soon after 
having been infected. Apparently, part of the 
protocol for treating an Ebola-infected patient is 
to identify all persons with whom they may have 
come into contact, and with whom they may have 
thereby inadvertently shared the disease. I guess 
“personal contact” in this case includes animals 
and humans, alike.

 As it turns out, the Spanish 
nurse who contracted the Ebola 
virus admitted that she was in 
contact with her dog, Excalibur 
soon after she was infected. 
Considering the circumstances 
and without much thought or 
further research, the ‘powers 
that be’ in Spain decided 
Excalibur should be considered 
a potential carrier of the disease 
and for that reason he was 
euthanized, in spite of the efforts 
of numerous animal advocates 
who tried so hard to spare his 
life. The authorities could not 
confirm whether the dog was a 
threat, they just decided in short 
order that it simply wasn’t worth the risk.

 Please understand, I realize there are numerous 
unanswered questions regarding the Ebola virus 
and I am relatively confident that disease-control 
professionals around the globe are doing their 
best to prevent it from spreading. I just wish the 
Spanish authorities would have been willing to 
keep Excalibur alive if for nothing more than 
to observe his condition in a controlled setting. 
Instead, they put him to death before they even 
knew he was a threat to other beings. If they’d just 
taken the time to think it through thoroughly, we 
all may have learned something from his demise 
and the way I know dogs, Excalibur would have 
been happy to help. As it is, we’ll learn nothing 
from his death, and he basically died in vain. 

 We humans are more than willing to utilize 
other animals strictly for the purpose of research 
and observation, at our will. Sadly enough, we 
even breed animals for that very purpose. Indeed, 
humans have no problem using other animals as 
a means to their end when it comes to research. 
But when it came to the life of a living dog, it 
apparently never crossed their minds that they 
could benefit from letting him live so we could 
learn. I am dumbfounded. I don’t claim to be 
an intelligent person, nor do I go about judging 
others for their actions, except when it comes to 
choosing death over life for another being.

 In this case, I am not only dumbfounded, 
I am also saddened and disappointed by the 
sudden choice to take Excalibur’s life, without 
even knowing whether or not he was a threat. 
I’ve nothing much else to say, other than this 
admonition: Take the opportunity to be still and 
quiet when you can; give yourself a moment alone 
without the influence of someone else‘s opinion 
or advice; take a deep breath and use the brain 
that God gave you to think with, then try…dear 
God, please try to love and LET LIVE.

 


DogWalking & Sitting ServicesSierraMadre, Californiawww.canyoncanine.comchris@canyoncanine.comChris LeclercCanyonCanine626-355-8333 626-533-9536CCConCaCanyonCanineCanineeeieCCChris LeclercChris Leclercae,
chris@canyoncanine.com.canyoncanine.comwwwnCaSierraMadrare, CaliforCaalking&SonDogWWalking & Sitting ServicesonCa626-355-8333 62onCayeclercinnia6-533-95362eclerccanine.comanine.comani,CaliforirnanineSittingServiceseaninee