Luna, you didn’t deserve this

About two years ago I woke up to a puppy crying loudly near our home. My first thought was that it must have been hit by a car. I looked out the window to discover a tiny puppy caught in a screen that someone had discarded. I freed her from the screen and painfully walked away from her knowing that I could not take on another dog as we already had our hands full with two adopted “Boonies”. I was hoping mom dog would come along and lead her home. About 20 minutes later the dog was crying again. She was surrounded by 3 big dogs growling at her. We chased the dogs off. I walked away again even more reluctantly really hoping mom dog would show up. In a few minutes she was crying loudly and walking around in the road. Mom dog was not coming back. I knew that if I walked away from this dog again she would not survive. I brought her in the house and washed her. She was more flea infested than any other dog I had ever seen. I was horrified but knew it had to be done. My children helped me. After we washed and dried her we could see what she was. A beautiful puppy that strongly resembled a Golden Retriever. Darling.

We took her all around town so she would be safe from our other dogs and also hoping someone would adopt her. She was so sweet. My Principal was even kind enough to let me bring her to work until we could find her a good home. The students helped feed and care for her. Finally she scored the jackpot and was adopted by Glen and Lindsay who are true dog lovers. We had the privilege of watching her grow and thrive under their care. We listened to them talk about her health and personality as she grew. She was a regular at the soccer fields. She was so sweet. She cried when Lindsay and Glen would take to the field until someone would sit next to her. She would come put her head in your lap if you sat to watch the game. She trusted and loved people.

Last night Luna was murdered outside her home. Someone shot her in the back of the head with a 22 rifle. This morning I had to tell my three children. They are devastated. One of my children kept asking me how a human could do this to someone’s pet. Anger tore through me as I told her, “I have no idea and it’s not right.” We will have to explain this to the school children. These are the same compassionate children who held bake sales weekly to spay and neuter ferrel cats who adopted our school. How do we explain this to them? What will they think? What will they learn from this experience? I’m so sorry Luna. You didn’t deserve this. I still wouldn’t walk away from you knowing everything. You were so lucky to have known love in a society that has some people that are so full of disregard for life. While this sort of treatment to animals is certainly not limited to the Northern Mariana Islands, we tolerate it by not passing laws to protect animals. Why?

In the Northern Mariana Islands there are no laws protecting your pets from being shot. We need to pass legislation now. We need a Luna Law. This has gone on long enough and I see absolutely no benefit to not passing a bill like that. What are we waiting for? I’m not even talking about humane treatment, which is long overdue as well. I am simply talking about safety for pets who we train to trust people.