Which Side of the Fence Are You On?

I recently ran up against a couple of situations that got me thinking about how much we value our four-legged friends.  Let me give you two examples before I ask your opinion.
Story OneA family I know with three kids, one of them special needs with a service dog, found themselves homeless. The dog was old, his health failing. The local shelters wouldn’t take the family in because of their dog, and despite it being the dead of winter, the family chose to live in their car rather than take the dog to an animal shelter.
Story TwoA book I read recently had the hero send his dog into a pond in case there were poisonous snakes.  The attitude was it was better to lose the dog than a person’s life.
Now granted the second story was only in a book, but I’ve already written about families abandoning their pets along with their homes because of the economy so this kind of attitude is real.
How much a part of the family is your dog? Which side of the fence are you on? Please leave your views in the comments section below.
Thank you,
Cindy A. ChristiansenSweet Romance, Humor, Suspense…and Dogs!Fly into a good book at:  http://www.dragonflyromance.com

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Sweet (clean) Romance Author