I am very careful before I sign a petition on Change.org, especially when the issue concerns pets, as sometimes public opinion on an issue as emotionally charged as aledged pet abuse can be manipulated. When a Change.org petition hit my inbox regarding the upcoming court hearing of an Atlanta citizen who rescued a dog left crated in the blazing sun, and who was later changed with theft, even though he had called local officials to report his actions and to ask them to take custody of the dog. So I took a look at local news coverage. The gentleman appeared to me to be credible, but that's not the reason why I ultimately signed the petition. The TV report quoted one of the concerned petition signer, who posed this question: "Why do we treat the abusers so well and the rescuers so poorly?" I believe this question deserves an answer, and I hope the issue will be addressed when Fulton County decides whether or not to try Stephen Bailey. If you wish to learn more about this story, click here. And if you decide to sign the Change.org petition, click here. At this writing, there are 197,172 supporters of the petition.
