Your Oct. 28 article regarding the Oakland woman who was (thankfully) denied her animal cruelty appeal in the state supreme court caught my attention. The cruelty of this woman deserved the most severe punishment the law could have mustered. An order to serve four days of a 140-day sentence, with a fine and an order to get counseling, hardly seems enough for the suffering that poor dog must have endured, while it nearly froze to death outside in the January cold. I will give a little credit to the judge for at least making some attempt at punishment.

The gift-giving season will soon be here, and the playful puppies and kittens you see for sale can be a tempting gift. But remember that cute, tiny kittens grow into cats and beautiful, bouncy puppies grow into dogs, and sometimes after a few months or years, they lose their appeal. If you have any doubts about the care you can give an animal, do not consider getting a pet. None of God’s creatures deserves to be left outside to freeze to death. Norma J. McEntee Presque Isle