"Are there abused dogs in Hawaii?"

We were on our way home from the Bark Park, today, when Maia asked this. "Well, yes," I said. I described a case that had been reported in the newspapers and on television that had involved a puppy mill and about 150 dogs. "Where do you find them?" she asked. I explained that what usually happens is that the police get called in and that the police then call the Humane Society, so the dogs usually end up there. "Why are you asking about abused dogs?" I asked her. "Because I want to help them," she said. The depth of her feelings for dogs keeps impressing me. When she was at the orphanage, Kristina and I walked her around the perimeter of the orphanage buildings one day, and there was an old dog resting in a field. Maia had wanted to go investigate it, but we held her back because the ground was rough, and we weren't sure about the dog. "Would you like to volunteer at the Humane Society?" I asked her. "Yes," she said. John, Tuesday, November 13, 2012