Spot The Dog

‘SPOT the dog. Go on, have a try. It’s not exactly the hardest thing to do, given that for most of the week Spot the dalmation puppy has been all over the front page of the Sun.

He’s there again, pictured before he was offed by thugs, lying on a carpet and looking all spotty and dog-like.

And like us, Spot’s now found what he’s been looking for. He’s found justice. As the front-page headline says: “JUSTICE FOR SPOT.”

It’s “a huge victory for the Sun”. The paper’s campaign to end animal cruelty, to “STAMP IT OUT”, has achieved its goal.

Thanks to the Sun, “torturers” will face a lifetime ban on owning pets, the length of time they can spend in jail will be doubled and the maximum fine the courts can hit them with will shoot up from £5,000 to £20,000.

“This is justice for Spot,” says Becky Lynch, Spot’s owner, who had been demanding that her dog’s killer should be locked up and the key thrown away.

As it is, the two youths arrested in connection with the murder of Spot will one day be free to walk among decent society – they were fingered by Paul Sutherland, who stirred by the Sun’s campaign and the £5,000 reward rang the paper’s Stamp It Out Animal Cruelty hotline.

Well done him. And congratulations to the Sun, which unable to yet name the arrested duo, makes do with naming and shaming 12 of the country’s “sickest” animal cruelty offenders.

There’s Gemma Brookfield, who slashed five of her ponies. Shame! Nadine Trewin cooked her cat in a microwave. Shame! Bill Seed killed three cats with a hammer. Shame!

And George Michael… Oh no! What’s his picture doing among this mob? Not to worry, George is good to pets, and has just popped along to give his celebrity backing to the Sun’s campaign.

And he’s joined by Mariah Carey (“The campaign is brilliant”), Rolf Harris and Jay Kay (“It beggars belief animals are killed or maimed in a society like ours”).

Jay Kay is right, as ever. It’s amazing how in modern Britain a pet can be hurt. Especially when the Express reminds us how there are so many humans out there to kill and maim.

As if stung into action by the Sun’s campaign, the Express dedicates two pages to “VIOLENT BRITIAN”. The paper hasn’t identified its own star victim, a human version of Spot – perhaps it’s spoilt for choice.

“The true horrors of life in Britain were laid bare yesterday,” says the paper. The Express has noticed what it calls a “series of mindless attacks” across the country.

“Hoodies batter old folk,” says one story. “Widow’s tragedy,” runs another. “Raider kills maid,” yells a third.

It’s sensational stuff. But we fear that without a petition, how can we put an end to such violence? Without a slogan we can chant, what can we do? Without celebrity support, the campaign to stamp out attacks on human beings looks likes a non-starter.

We are powerless to act – unless, of course, the murderers, thieves and rapists go for the pets…’

Posted: 14th, October 2005 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink