Man made his choice, dog had none

In response to Steve Smith's letter published on Aug. 5, I would like to point out a couple of things.

First, the disabled man who drowned in Florida, taunted by teens whose behavior was disgraceful and they need to be punished. Also, the woman who caused the death of her dog needs to be punished as well, for cruelty to animals.

Anyone who would take their dog to a mall in 80-plus degree weather has to be uncaring and thoughtless. Who has ever accomplished any shopping task at any mall in less than five minutes? It takes about that long for your car to be so hot as to cause distress to any animal or child in that car. Yet she, in addition to shopping, went to dinner with her son, while the dog is dying.

I think why people feel possibly more badly for the dog, because he had no choice but to go in the car with his "mom" … the man in Florida shouldn't have been near or in the water if he couldn't swim. He made his choice - the dog had none.

Karen Schlabach

Glen Ellyn