I understand being frustrated when someone else’s pet keeps turning up in your yard. But reading John Barto’s explanation in WWNY’s October 9 report, I couldn’t see how that answered for what happened in my mom’s yard, where she says his dogs attacked Jethro.

Jethro had to be euthanized, and my mom needed emergency room treatment for a bite she suffered in the attack. As her son, it’s hard to hear the conversation turn to complaints about other pets when she’s the one who had to say goodbye to a dog she loved. What I wanted to hear was some concern for her and what she lost.

If someone else’s animal is causing trouble, of course you should raise it with the owner or report it. That’s part of being a responsible neighbor, just as keeping your own dogs under control is. Calling a dog territorial doesn’t make the whole neighborhood its territory.

We all know dogs have instincts, but surely there’s room to acknowledge the hurt when someone loses a pet because of them. You can have complaints of your own and still say you’re sorry for what your neighbor is going through. Jethro was family, and anyone who loves their own dogs should understand why losing him this way has been so painful.

Thankfully, most of my mom’s neighbors have shown her loving support, and the community has really rallied around her. We’re grateful for everyone who has reached out and made sure she knows they care.

My mom should be able to feel safe in her own yard. We all have to live alongside one another, and there will be disagreements along the way. But a neighborhood ought to be a place where people can put those disagreements aside long enough to help someone who’s hurting. We don’t have to see eye to eye on everything to care about each other. We’re still neighbors.

Chris Carlin
Massena Center