Mercy

I killed a cat today.
Someone had abandoned it at the house we are moving to. The cat had obviously been severely injured by another animal & it was throwing itself around in a manner that made it apparent that it's back was probably broken.
The women took the children out back and out of sight & then I killed it.

I apologized to the cat softly and looked at it for a few minutes with my friend who had watched.
It had been a beautiful animal. The fur looked shiny and soft.
I apologized to it again telling it I didn't know what else to do for it.

As much as a mercy killing can be a terrible feeling, I have to tell myself that letting it suffer was worse. I don't know what chance people think they're giving to animals born domesticated when they abandon them in the country, but I can assure them it isn't much chance at all.
I once made the mistake of feeding my lunch to an abandoned dog on a float trip and the dog followed me for twelve miles down the river, nearly drowning at least twice in some of the slower currents of long lengths of deep water. If I had only had my gun with me I would have put the poor despairing thing out of it's misery - it was truly terrible to watch.

If I ever catch anyone dumping animals on the side of the road like they were trash, I will make it my mission in life to make their lives hell until they are driven far out of my town.
People like that are the lowest forms of shit. For them, I would offer no such mercy.