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The kindness of dog lovers
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 10, 2000 Not all America is obsessed at the moment with chads and shopping and holiday parties. Villagers in Alaska are being forced to shoot their sled dogs or watch them starve to death. The collapse of this year's salmon run has left the dogs without food to survive the brutal winter. Two companies, Ralston Purina and Pets.com, an online retailer, have donated 43-tons of dog food. Pets.com acted before its assets were tied up in liquidation proceedings, which prevented a greedy investor from blocking the lifesaving aid. A bankrupt fishery donated 10 tons of salmon. Shipping and rail lines moved the food. The Humane Society and the postal service rushed other donations. Humans have an amazing capacity to act when lives are at stake. To village residents, the sled dogs are not merely loved as pets; their work keeps villagers alive and surviving as a culture. Amid the debate in Washington and Tallahassee about whether one vote matters, these corporations have shown, through their generosity, we all can make a difference -- even in the Alaskan interior.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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From the Times Opinion page |
