Natural imbalance costs precious pal

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, June 2, 2001

We’re writing this to perhaps spare another family the loss of their pet or the destruction of property we have experienced over the last year.

We live on a completely fenced piece of property on Rucker Hill in Everett. On a recent Saturday night, before retiring, I let both our dogs/pals out into the yard one last time before putting them in for the night. They both tangled with a raccoon in our front yard, and tumbled, and fought down the hill, approximately 80 feet, to the fence, where the raccoon escaped.

Unfortunately for our male dog, he torqued his spine such that he lost use of his back legs, and by the next morning his front legs. Exhausting all efforts possible four days later we had to give in to the inevitable and say goodbye to our big-hearted family protector. We understand that working and herding breeds of dog react on instinct in situations such as this encounter, but hope that another family can spare themselves the grief of losing a pal such as ours by using some caution.

The neighborhood of Rucker Hill has seen a proliferation of raccoons to the point of infestation. We have had neighbors incur property damage due to raccoons seeking refuge in their attic or their garage. This has happened of course through the fault of humans not the raccoons. Our neighbors on the hill have got to stop feeding the raccoons. There are still gullies with small tributaries and access to the shoreline and woods around Rucker Hill where these creatures should and would venture.

It’s time for all the Marlin Perkins want-a-be’s of the hill to wise up. This may seem like a great pasttime – feed them scraps of food you won’t consume or even buy dog food for them – and it’s zero maintenance for you, but believe me someone eventually pays for the imbalance.

So, please, buy yourselves a bag of peanuts, go to the zoo, and spare your neighbors the damage and loss.

Everett