The stray dog - sad ending

We were having a nice lunch on the porch of the house, overlooking the farm, the valley and trees all around. The sun was out, it was a beautiful peaceful moment, we were all resting from a long preparation of the meal and enjoying the food at last. All of sudden, Roxana, the farm worker, appeared at the steps of the porch and waved at Alvaro, with a serious and preoccupied face, yet staying silent. Alvaro saw her and without saying a word, he got up immediately, he went into the house and got back out on the other side, walking down to the farm with a hunter's gun in his hands. Roxana was behind and when they got a few meters down the path and between the farm buildings, we realized there was a dog. A slender brown short-hair dog that didn't seem to be of any race. The dog was quite quiet and relaxed, he even stopped to lay down on the lane in the shade of a tree. Alvaro with the gun in his hand, creeped behind one of the sheds really slowly. I covered my eyes, heard a shot. I couldn't watch. I think I heard some slight crying, 'Was he not shot dead immediately? please shoot him again so he doesn't suffer, I thought, don't let him lying there in agony.' But no other shot went off, I dared to watch and saw the dog completely laying on the ground. It was so sad to see. He was laying exactly the same way that Machi the dog on Edo's farm was laying after she died just a week before. I couldn't really watch the whole scene because it was so painful to me but I did kind of see Roxana and the other worker approaching to look at the dog, apparently checking that it was dead and bringing a big bag. After a few minutes, Alvaro came back to the table and continued eating. I dared to brake the silence and ask 'Was that planned?' Yes it had been planned for some time. Apparently this dog had been coming to the farm for a long time now, getting in the ducks pens and taking one or 2 each time. Chasing him away never really worked, he always came back. They don't know who he belonged to, if he even belonged to someone or was a stray. 'Isn't there a risk that the owner will come back to look for him?' Maybe but the law in Chile says: you can kill an animal that trespasses into your property. So this is totally legal, and also sadly necessary to avoid more killing of ducks.

I tried to keep eating, still in shock. We were all a bit quiet. Alvaro left again after finishing his plate and seemed to go help the workers take away the dog on the back of the pickup. It is quite a mystery what happened to it. After that, life had to start back to normal again, in my case with still a heaviness in my heart. Such is life on an animal farm. 'It's the dog or it's our ducks'. But actually, the ducks will also be killed and sold very soon, so in the end, everyone gets killed. In any case, this episode brings thought for reflection. When is it okay to kill a dog? a duck? Who decides on their fate? on ours?