The Observation Deck

I really didn't lose my dog. I don't even own a dog.

There has been some discussion about hard news versus soft news. I was curious to see how many hits a lost dog post would get as opposed to a "hard" news article.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know how it feels to lose a dog and the panic it induces. If you lost your dog, I would help you look for it.

I get sick every time I know an animal is lost because they so often wind up getting killed. We recently buried a friend's cat that was hit by a car.

As far as being "soft news" I guess it is, but I thought it was a request for help from a neighbor. Losing a cherished member of the family and asking the community for help means more to me than discussing politics, because you seemed to be communicating from the heart, person to person, neighbor to neighbor.

Weirdest Thing

Right after you posted this my wife found a yellow lab wandering in the snow. She put it in the car and we called the owner who came over and picked it up.

Weird!

I don't consider this a difference between "hard news" and "soft news". Your post was a cry for help (with an exclamation point, too!) I've found dogs over the years and have either returned them to the owner or called the police to pick them up. Also, our own young dog, only 3 years old, has escaped through our back yard fence once or twice.

That is definitely a panicky feeling! If this post gets lots of hits, the way I see it, it is more an indication of the caring hearts of your Lakewood neighbors.

Okay, Okay. The post was a bad idea.

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa

Craig's list has both a Lost and Found and pets section. This might divide the hard and soft news, though I'm not sure posts asking if there are any places to eat in Lakewood at 3 AM is hard news, exactly. But dividing up lost animal posts would save time of those who have found animals, to be sure.