I’m responding to the story about the injured dog that had been struck by a car on Jack Alexander. Five vehicles stopped to help this animal. Salisbury police were contacted for their assistance. At some point in time, their chain-of-command instructed the officers to move the pup from the road and shoot it.

Thanks to one of the good Samaritans, the Humane Society was contacted and notified the police they were on their way to retrieve the pup. This call from the Rowan Humane Society came just in time because the officer had unholstered his weapon and was preparing to shoot.

I have great respect for our local law enforcement agencies. However, this is a very inhumane way of handling this type of situation.

Salisbury Police Chief Mark Wilhelm was quoted as saying, “Basically, there is no written procedure” for dealing with injured animals. I’m encouraging our police and sheriff’s agencies to address this matter and establish procedures for a more humane way of dealing with these situations.

All officers and the 911 center should be provided telephone numbers of those non-profit organizations that provide assistance for animal rescue. There are organizations in our county that will respond immediately to these cases if they are just called.

— Vera Bennett

Salisbury