To Felicity and Camel and other people who rant about how dogs are just animals, not people (who presumably are either vegetables or minerals): it's attitudes like yours that permit animals to be tortured and abused by the billions; after all, they're only a step above inanimate objects, so why not beat and burn and cut them up?

Yeah, animals are nothing like people, who rape and torture and murder each other daily and poison the planet and...but hey, what do I know -- I'm the kind of guy who thinks pet dogs have feelings and can think and are indeed members of your family and thus worthy of love and protection for their entire lives. What a fool I must be!

I'm not sure why we have to consider animals to be equal to humans in order to not abuse them. Do you consider trees and flowers equal to humans? Do you go around chopping down trees and tearing apart flowers just because you can? Well, they certainly aren't on the same level as humans (or animals), so maybe I'll go around mauling vegetation.

I have a lot of respect for the earth, and the animals and plants it produces. Yes, I consider animals above inanimate objects and below humans. Thus, I feel its wrong to be cruel to them!

I'm not sure why animals (or plants, or priceless works of arts or whatever), have to be equal to humans in order to treat them with respect.

First, what a searing and lovely response to this letter, Carey.

To those who are using the mantra "it's a dog, not a person" to excuse the mistreatment of an animal, I'd like to respond. Dogs have simpler needs than humans: food, fresh water, fresh air and exercise, and love. If you choose to have a animal (either actively or passively, by entering into a relationship with someone with a pet) it becomes your responsibility to provide for the animal as you would provide for any other being dependent on your for its survival. Because it is an animal does not mean it is less deserving of its basic needs in life.

If you are unable or unwilling to provide for your animal's needs, it is your responsibility to find someone who is able or willing. It's just humanity.

So I don't know if this has already been suggested, but here's something you CAN do. Buy either "piddle pants" or a panty that is usually used during a dog's heat. You put a maxi pad in it and put it on the dog, and essentially the dog is wearing a diaper. Yeah, it has to be changed, but your husband probably won't mind, and it WOULD get rid of the problem of pee on floor, plus give the old dog more freedom of movement around the house.

Personally, I believe that if we choose to enter into a relationship with someone who has pets or children, we have also chosen to enter into a relationship with those pets or children. I am NOT equating the two--what I am saying is that this is a relationship that predates your relationship with this person, and it should be respected. If you cannot love the dog, you should at LEAST respect that your HUSBAND loves the dog, and allow him to care for her as she needs and he sees fit until her death. It is truly callous to disregard the depth and sincerity of that relationship.

I sort of understand the writer's problem, but I wouldn't have married her. If she can't deal with a little dog pee, how would she deal if one of her children or her husband developed a serious illness? Or just needed to be cared for in old age? How you treat your animals IS a good indicator of how you will treat other people.

When I went through this with my dog, I devised a doggie bed that kept things sanitary. Put a pillow in a large trash bag, and then put a sheet around the trashbag. Wash the sheet every morning and change the trash bag every so often. Voila.

Now here's the sad epilogue. The dog I write about was my childhood dog. When I went off to live at college (my dog was 16), my parents couldn't deal, and they ended up putting her down. But they were uncaring. Be a better than they were. Give the makeshift doggie bed a chance.

Acknowledging that dogs and humans are not the same is a far cry from excusing abuse of any creature. As Felicity put it so well already, you don't need to believe something is a full-fledged member of your family in order to respect it. If you have to anthropomorphize an animal in order not to abuse it, then that's a problem.

Besides, NO ONE has yet said that the letter writer should euthanize her dog solely because he's incontinent, including the letter writer herself. You should pay attention and read more carefully before calling names and wishing horrible things on a complete stranger.