WOMAN.ca Reader Rhayne Thomas Writes in With a Call to Action

I'd like to begin this letter by saying that anyone who is familiar with any of my work knows that it's always light, funny and uplifting. I'm sad to say that this story will not be funny because it is a tragedy that I want to inform the world about and hopefully prevent something like this from happening again.

Last week, two of my dearest friends, Jim & Moni Thompson of Edmonton, Alberta Canada, called me on my cell phone at 6:30am, in tears, telling me that someone had, shot both of their dogs and put them on the train tracks by their home where they were severed. At first I could not wrap my mind around this because their dogs weren't just dogs. Rio, a Belgium Shepherd, and Annie, a Bassett Hound, were their babies. Rio and Annie were also my babies. When I stayed with Jim & Moni, Rio & Annie treated me as though they had known me forever when I had only just met them. I am a real pet lover and have met some pretty sweet dogs in my life but Annie & Rio were at the top of my list as far as kind and gentle were concerned.

Jim & Moni have been through some tough times in the last 5 years with Moni battling both stomach and breast cancer and coming through it with a small chance of survival. Moni credits Rio with her ability to recover because he never left her side while she was suffering and Annie they added later to keep Rio company since he loved others so much they thought he could use a pal.

Jim & Moni have incorporated help from police, vets, neighbors, friends and strangers to find the coward who committed this heinous and disgusting act of violence. My request from you is to spread the word so we can see the affect this has on others and so that these kinds of things DO NOT happen again. If you would like to help in any way or have something to say about this matter, please contact us and we will forward the information to Jim & Moni. I hope this story will tug at your heart moving you to always do the right thing when or if you know of any animal abuse. If not for me, for Annie and Rio.

By Rhayne Thomas