Don't litter our roads

All along the highways there are signs warning against littering the roads. There is a fine if you are caught, but I have never noticed anyone being pulled over for tossing a paper cup out the window. On the county roads there are not even any signs against littering, and on parts of the roads where there are no houses, there is much evidence that no one worries about the messes they make. Some concerned residents will stop and pick up the trash to make their part of the road look more presentable, others hope the traffic will destroy the evidence eventually.

Our road off Highway 54 is just the right distance from town that people who have grabbed a drink at a drive-thru are ready to get rid of their empty cups. There are no houses close to the road for almost a mile, and there are two small hills that can hide their cars from the highway or the distant houses. Quite often there will be a sack from one of the drive-thrus with all their trash inside the bag. They may have stopped there to eat their burger and fries. That is really not as bad as the ones who throw their lunch wrappers out one at a time as they drive past, thereby providing a half mile of trashy refuse.

This litter is ugly, impolite and wasteful. But another type of litter that sometimes gets dumped on the roadside is even worse. That is when someone has dumped a litter of puppies or kittens, or even grown animals. The owners tell themselves that this way the unwanted animal will find its own home and they will not have to take other remedies that are available. Somehow they seem to feel that people who live in the country love animals and will gladly feed their extra pets for them.

This might have been true back in the "good ole days" when people who lived in the country usually had cows and barns. Cows' milk could provide a little nourishment and the cats could clear out their barn from rats and mice that have gathered to feast on leftover grain that is fed to the cows. The barns could also provide shelter for the strays. That is not true anymore. Rural residents are often not farmers, usually will not have barns, don't have cows, and keep their own pets well fed with purchased pet food.

Recently some personnel at Cottey College saw two dogs who had been dumped on what we still call Happy Hollow Road. It was one of those bitter cold nights and of course there are no houses along that road through the bottom so there was little opportunity for them to "adopt" a new home. The women brought food and water to the shivering dogs, but had no way to provide anything more for them. In the morning the dogs were gone. No one knows what happened to them, but the odds of a happy ending were remote. Both kinds of littering give our county a bad impression on newcomers or passers-by. The best solution to providing for unwanted litters of animal is to neuter your pets. But, of course, the people who are responsible enough to do that are not the type that would ever leave a poor cat or dog at the mercies of traffic, uncaring residents or the elements.

Sometimes the veterinary offices know of someone who would like a pet, and the animal control office will give you information about their policies about unwanted animals. For trash, you can take your paper, cans, and boxes home until you can take them to the recycling center.

And if you are traveling down our road, please leave any gifts at our house, not in our ditches.