this is why I got into journalism

[aruan]

There was an awful late-night raid of a dogfighting ring here in Polk County a couple of months ago. Some 20 people were arrested, and 139 dogs of all ages and breeds were confiscated. Several of them were so malnourished, feral, injured or sick that they had to be put down immediately.

Many of them weren't, though, and they awaited their fate in Animal Control kennels while a whole slew of legal and police professionals broke their hearts putting together the case to punish their owner.

This story is about the team who cared for them as long as they could, as best as their resources and emotional health would allow. This kind of telling of real people's stories, of looking around one's community, city, state, world, and telling a story about something down to how it affects one's neighbors is what journalism does at its best. To that end, two of my favorite publications are the International Herald-Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times, with a nod to the latter for this one.

Story: Kennel Trash

Comments

[trickyjazzer.livejournal.com]

*wipes tears*
That definitely tugged at the heart strings.

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

It might be the only love they'll ever know! She'll have floppy ears in heaven! I was a wreck after reading it last night. Solidified my plan to adopt a dog already now that my life is otherwise in order down here, though. Honestly, who hurts a dog?

[krissi518.livejournal.com]

Wow. What a story. I read it at work - not a good idea! I really had to fight back the tears.

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

It's a tearjerker. Bridget told me from her time at the Miami Herald that the stories she wrote on dogs got ten times the mail than the ones even on cats and by far the most overall. Puppies! I keep trying to come back to who could hurt a dog, and it continues to baffle me.