It appears that Mary is missing the point here. This homeless gentleman 'chose' shelter for his dogs over shelter for himself!! He'chose' to reside under a bridge! Because there are services EVERYWHERE, including dss where they 'must' provide emergency shelter for anyone by days end. FACT!!

And it isn't all rosie for the dogs either. Most dogs that are rescued are nurtured back to health, only to never be adopted and put down shortly there after!!

Quoted Text

Homeless man can seek help, dogs can’t

    Re Jan. 5 letter, “Story should’ve dealt with homeless man’s plight, not his dogs’”: I’m glad Mary Pedone prepared herself “to get hit from the animal activists,” as she put it. I wouldn’t so much put it that I’m an animal activist, however. I am a decent person, and I feel the need to respond in disgust to Mary Pedone’s letter.
    There is no decency in defending animal cruelty. I have compassion for both, animals and those who are struggling and find themselves homeless. However, I have no compassion for Frank Burns. There are many services in this city that would have helped him, the City Mission for one. The dogs he left in an unheated storage unit with no food or water had no options.
    As Mathew Tully of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stated, the SPCA would have picked up the dogs to relieve Mr. Burns. But Mr. Burns made the choice to leave those dogs to die. Perhaps if he honestly believed that the storage unit was a safe and reasonable place, then he, too, should have stayed there.
    I applaud the Gazette reporter for reporting the facts on this disgusting act of animal abuse. I hope Frank Burns gets the treatment he needs and the punishment he deserves.
    And here’s the answer for Mary Pedone: Yes, this is what society has come to, caring for those who have no voice, and holding people responsible when they treat animals like they’re trash, to be disposed of.

    JAMIE SMITH
    Schenectady

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