Sido shares a smooch with her main protector, no-kill advocate Richard Avanzino.
Photo courtesy Richard Avanzino, via cbsnews.com
A wonderful story on the CBS News website recalls an important story from 1980, focused on the life of a Collie-Sheep Dog mix named Sido. When her owner, Mary Murphy, passed away, the will called for Sido to be euthanized. But dog lovers in her hometown of San Francisco had no intention of letting this order be carried out:
“There’s no justification for her life to be taken,” said animal advocate Richard Avanzino in the 1980 report. “She’s committed no crime. The only crime that she committed was that she loved totally her master and for that she’s been condemned to die.”
The legal and legislative battle that ensued laid much of the groundwork for the modern no-kill movement, and Avanzino went on to dedicate his life to the cause. This is a fascinating read.