The friend was entrusted with the care of the soldier’s unique and irreplaceable personal property. Instead of keeping it safe, he gave it away to persons unknown.
I don’t think a pop in the ol’ schnozz is completely out of line here.
Yes. It’s nice to know that by your rules you can betray a friend and not face a physical reprisal as long as a dog is somehow involved.
Your face would be protected in either case by your ass.
Their job is to report the news, not make assumptions.
One of the dog rescue groups I belong to on facebook did post info about this yesterday. It says the dog is microchipped, so an effort is being made to alert veterinarians and shelters in the area to be on the lookout for this dog.
I do hope the guy gets his dog back. The so-called friend is an ass.
No, the SDMB is where people are so insecure that someone always complains whenever there’s the slightest implication that humans might not be not the almighty center of the universe in everything. Or, in this case, that an animal might be important (not MORE important, just important) to someone.
Are we insecure because we doubt we deserve to be more important than everyone and everything else? Or are we insecure for some other reason?
Very true. In fact, *any *animal is more important than some people.
What gives this a newsworthy “man bites dog” novelty is that a soldier wanted to be reunited with his dog. We were frequent visitors to the Tacoma Pierce County Humane Society, near Fort Lewis where the story in the OP takes place, and saw the sad abundance of pets discarded by military personnel. So much so that “puppy-dumper” could be to Iraq what “baby-killer” was to Vietnam.
It’s not dogs are more important than people. It’s that innocent beings unable to affect their situation deserve protection.
Did you consider the possibility that many of those people couldn’t find anyone who’d look after their pets for 6+ months?
Arguably, something they should have considered before they got a pet. Or before they joined the military, depending on which came first.
Sure, but no sane person foresaw the US invasion of Iraq. In any event, it’s a bit more excusable than the people who buy a puppy for Christmas and dump it a month later because it pissed on the nice rug, or whatever.
Ouch! You really got me there. Who knows why I’m so insecure. If I had a dick, it would be tiny too I’m sure. Go back and read my post. I never said anything about people being the center of the universe. If the story is true as reported the guy is a douche but beating another human is wrong and criminal. Period.
All we know about the dog from the story is that he changed owners. That happens every time a puppy is given away or a dog is adopted from the pound. Are you bestowing human feelings and emotions on animals?
I thought that was a reference to the soldier being deployed.
Anyways, pets are considered property, and it seems that the soldier never formally relinquished the pet to the former friend, just temporarily gave (as a foster). Getting rid of someone else’s property without their consent is illegal, so if that is the case, there could be charges against the former friend.
So is selling or giving away somebody’s property.
This is a side issue and not really the core of this story. The true focus is that the serviceman was betrayed and in fact robbed by a trusted friend.
If I left my favorite guitar with a buddy and then returned to find out that he sold it or gave it away there’s a good chance a beating might occur. Would it be wrong to beat him? Of course. But betrayal does that to people. One can get very emotional about a friend having a cavalier attitude about one’s things.
A soldier gets deployed to Afghanistan, and leaves his dog with a friend.
A couple of months later, he calls the friend and asks how things are going.
The friend says, “Your dog is dead.”
“No, no, no!” says the soldier. "That’s not how you give bad news. You gotta lead up to it. You say something like, ‘Your dog was playing with a ball in the backyard. He was having so much fun that he forgot where he was. He ran out into the street, and a car hit him. We rushed him to the hospital, and he fought hard, but it was just too much for him, and he passed away.’
That’s how you give bad news. Okay, anything else?"
The friend pauses.
“Well, your mother was playing with a ball in the back yard…”
Regards,
Shodan
Does that make any sense at all? Doesn’t it make him look much much worse?
Dogs run away sometimes, and get hit by cars. Even otherwise conscientious caretakers can have that happen. I had a cat that died because a friend accidentally left the door open, she got out, and was later hit by a car. I don’t bear ill will toward that friend. Sometimes shit happens, and a reasonable person would not assume that forgetting to close a door would lead to a pet’s death. Hell, she escaped due to my mistakes a half-dozen times over the years. This was just the time she got hit 
But just wantonly giving away someone’s dog indicates that he’s a terrible and thoughtless human being. Why would someone make up a story that makes themselves out to be the villain?