MUTHER TRUCKER SIGHTING

It's hard to believe that many people still don't know (or don't care) that dogs shouldn't be riding in the back of a pick-up truck.  Would you let your child ride loose back there to be thrown from one side to the other as you maneuver down busy city streets or race down the freeway? I hope not!  It seems like a no brainer, but apparently some people have no brains. 

Even if the dog is tethered, which the one I saw yesterday was not, the dog is in danger of falling over the side of the truck and being hanged or dragged to death if the leash is too long.  A dog can also get seriously burned paws on metal truck beds on some of the unexpectedly hot days we've had recently.  How long would you last while standing barefooted on sizzling hot metal?  

I watched in horror as the beefy, gun-metal gray, ear-cropped pit bull hung precariously over the edge of the truck while the driver seemed utterly oblivious to the fact he even had a dog riding in the back of his truck.  The guy was driving was one of those high-profile, black as sin, macho man machines, and his dog sure fit the image he was trying so hard to project:  ME BIG MAN.  ME HAVE BIG, MEAN DOG.  ME TOO STUPID TO HAVE DOG.  

I would have hollered at the clueless driver through his open window, but from the looks of him I figured he probably had an automatic weapon resting on the seat next to him, instead of what should have been sitting next to him inside the cab of the truck: his dog.  I figured it was pointless to report it.  Police have bigger fish to fry, but then dogs fry and die every day in Sacramento, and it's not yet even the first day of summer.  It breaks my heart that some people care so little for the well-being of their animal companions.  I could only pray as I drove on that the dog came to no harm.