As long as I live, I will not be able to understand people like the Woodleys who cared not one iota about the suffering they were causing innocent dogs and puppies.

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My coffee table is groaning with "tons" of mail and literature. I keep on promising myself that all its contents will be quickly read and addressed. Ha Ha! You guessed it. Easier said then done. Oh well, some day some one will come into my house and just swipe all the contents into the recycling bin. Of course, I'll probably be in the hospital or the morgue for this to happen.

Do other people have this problem? Probably yes if they care about addressing animal cruelty or human cruelty. And probably no -- if neatness is their "thing" and is more important than compassion.

Today I am re-reading the account of Ben who was one of the Woodley hoarder victims. A Jack Russell terrier, he was born on the Woodleys' property, which was full of crates and cages. Three hundred dogs were confined in them. The writer describes what she sees as well as what Ben saw.

Were you to come into this garage of caged dogs- you would find the stench suffocating.

For poor Ben and the others--urine and feces dripped on them from the stacked cages of dogs above them. Ben's eyes and skin burned from the urine that dropped into his eyes.

The investigator from Animal Legal Defense witnessed a miniature pinscher lying in a puddle of her own waste in a small space with six other dogs. She had lain in that spot until her ravaged body could hold out no longer. I keep thinking of karma, which would demand that the Woodleys experience some of this terrible suffering they knowingly and willingly caused.

For Ben and the others, days would go by with no food or water. There never was any fresh air. After enduring the Woodleys' cruelty for a long time, Ben himself felt close to death.

All he could do was whimper and hope that someone would save them.

And there was a happy ending for Ben and the others when the Animal Legal Defense Fund rescued them. Ben was lucky to be soon adopted by a loving care giver who provided him with a happy home--a place to roam and run, a second chance at life.

Sadly, not all the dogs were as fortunate as Ben. They did not survive the abuse. And as ALD acknowledges -- despite the dogs who were saved from the Woodley's place of horrors, somewhere there are other dogs whimpering in cages -- starving...in agony...and left for dead.

I was only too glad to give a small donation to ALD to continue this saving work for other dogs in like places of suffering as with the Woodleys. May ALD find these horrible places and save as many of these precious animals they can from human cruelty.

Authors Bio:
I have been concerned about animal suffering ever since

I received my first puppy Peaches in 1975. She made me take a good look at the animal kingdom and I was shocked to see how badly we treat so many animals. At 77, I've been a vegan for the past 30 years and I thank God every day that I am. I am most disturbed at how little the Catholic Church and Christian churches generally give to concern re animal suffering in their ministry. I wrote to 350 bishops in 2001 and only 10-13 responded. I feel that the very least they can do is to instruct that the priests give one sermon a year on compassion to animals. I am still waiting for that sermon. I also belong to Catholic Concern for Animals - founded in England in 1929. (They are on the internet) I recently sent a sample copy of their bi-monthly publication called the ARK to the 8 Catholic bishops of Ohio. Only ONE kindly responded. Somehow we have to reach the Christian teaching magisterium. There is next to nothing re animal concerns and compassion for them. They basically believe that animals are the lesser of God's creation and that gives us the right to do anything we want to them. Way wrong. We need to change their mindsets. The animals are God's first and He expects us to treat them compassionately.