Art of the Odd

I can’t even watch the clip again, but perhaps you’d like to. (Don’t mind the ad at the front — I promise it’s short.)

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Mule Dragged Behind Truck KLRT Fox 16 Little Rock - (KLRT) Jun. 06, 2007. 09:11 AM EST

The first half is about some jackass (pun… well, I’m not sure if the pun was intended) who was angry that his mule was too stubborn. (And what did you expect, brainchild? You want a compliant pet, try a hamster. It may not listen to you, but I’ve never heard that they’re openly defiant. And what would you be asking a hamster to do, anyway?) So, in order to “teach it a lesson,” he tied it to the back of his truck and dragged it down a paved street. The poor mule’s got a gash above his eye, he’s all over cuts and abrasions, and the Humane Society rep says that even days later, you can see the bloodstains on the road. The owner was arrested and charged with animal cruelty, which is good. What’s not so good: if he’s convicted, he faces — wait for it… A year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The second half of the clip is just sad — it’s about a mare (in the same county) whose leg was injured, and instead of taking her to the vet, or even just putting her down, her owner thought they’d brace the leg with some PVC and turn her out to pasture. Her leg… her leg rotted off. In answer to the question, “Why didn’t you just put her down immediately?” the Humane Society rep said, “Because she’s still alive.” This mare, who should have been dead within a few days, has managed not only to feed herself (and a grazing animal takes a lot of feeding, but also to learn to walk. With three legs. So once she’s as healthy as she can be, there’s talk of trying to fit her with a prosthetic.

It’s not that I’m not also angry with the people who let their mare’s leg rot off. I am. But it’s a different sort of anger. That’s a situation born of ignorance, poor judgment, and (I’m assuming) poverty. (There’s no mention of the owners’ economic circumstances in the clip, but I hope no one who could afford to take an injured animal to the vet would just fix her up with PVC and leave her to heal or die.) It’s horrible, but it doesn’t seem malicious. Unlike the situation with the poor mule. Someone who would drag a mule down the road behind his truck is also, very likely, someone who would beat his wife, injure a child, or set a cat on fire. And I don’t think a year in jail and a $1,000 fine is enough. In fact, I think maybe he needs to be dragged behind a truck. To teach him a lesson.