Editor:

I'm small and still have baby teeth. I have scabs on my face, my ear tips have frozen and crumbled off and my feet are blistered from the frigid snow. It has been three days since I last ate and my liver is now starting to shut down.

A pawfull of sunsets ago, the only people I have ever know said I was useless, the kids were bored of me and no one wanted me anymore. They put me in a dark box, where the only thing I can hear is the roar of an engine and the pounding of my heart.

With a lurch, my box is tumbled out the door and a world of silence fills my kitten ears as the vehicle drives away. I crawl out of the darkness onto the snow covered gravel road and mew up at the starless sky. My bewildered and frightened mind races, where am I? Where can I hide? Why am I so cold? What have I done? I am so scared, so alone.

Why did you abandon me?

It is now winter in the friendly Manitoba countryside. It's minus 25 degrees tonight, and yet people still dump their animals on the vacant gravel roads. What are you thinking? To abandon a living, breathing body at anytime is a punishable crime, but now in the cold of winter, in this season of expressed " Good will towards mankind", you dump a defenseless life on someone else's doorstep?

Keep your excuses because your actions speak the truth. The reality scenarios range from starvation, freezing to death, being eaten by wildlife, hit by a vehicle and driven over until the body disintegrates to being shot as a pest or problem. These are the happier endings because the death is relatively quick. Some are even worse for the dumped innocent dogs, cats and pocket pets that you feel are disposable. Why did you trouble yourself to get them in the first place?

As you enjoy a full meal, a cozy bed and a safe home, remember the life you have doomed by abandonment. Consider the people you have violated by dumping your so-called problem on their doorstep. Weigh the legal consequences of your despicable action. May all the ghosts of Christmas visit your dreams.

Make it your New Year's Resolution to always be responsible for your actions.

Rachelle Hayward