A clear indication that I live in classic small-town America is the fact that the story of “Annie the dog and her two owners” has been front page news and the lead story on the local newscasts for more than a week now. There are 396 comments on the story linked above, by far the most the local paper has ever seen for any story on any topic.
For those not familiar with the case – though Lord knows this thing could blow up nationally on Larry King any day now – a guy lost his dog and animal services adopted her out only hours before he finally tracked her down. The new family has had the dog for a couple of weeks now, while the original guy had her for her entire 8-year lifetime. They are refusing to give her back. The standoff has given rise to a heart-tugging morality play of epic proportions.
I’m reminded of the Old Testament’s King Solomon, who proposed deciding the disputed maternity of a young infant by cutting the baby in half. When one of the alleged mothers cried out against his plan and said go ahead and give the child to the other woman, Solomon awarded her the baby, secure in the knowledge only the true mother would sacrifice her maternal reward so that the child might live.
So far, no one has offered to cut poor Annie in two, but the new family is holding onto her despite strong public opinion that she should be returned to her lifelong friend.
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