Bionic Smoke's Return to Zion - "Shep"

August 17, 2005 - August 12, 2014

You deserved someone that would understand, hopefully you are at peace now and are surrounded by people and other dogs who will love you like you deserve. Be free... you've earned it.

Shep was not a super-easy dog. A normal one, with normal behaviors easily understood, but not a good fit for the family that adopted him. They could have easily enough learned to handle him, or they could've waited until the community found a home more-suited to him, but instead, they put him down.

This was completely uncalled-for and unnecessary. The community was actively looking for a home for him, and a home had been *found.*

Shep, and tens of thousands of dogs like him, are destroyed because people are unwilling to treat their dogs as responsibilities deserving responsible thought and responsible action.

Before taking a dog in, research the breed. Think HARD about what you can and cannot do, and what you are and are not *willing* to do. Meet the dog. LEARN about the dog and his or her personality. Think AGAIN about what you can or cannot do, and what you are or are not willing to do.

Shep was magnificent, and did not deserve to die for failing to live up to someone's fantasies