Submission by Hannah Lau
There was a dog named Oogy. Oogy was a Dogo Argentina who was tied to a stake and used as bait for another Pit Bull, completely helpless. While being bait, Oogy got very torn up: His face was all destroyed, his ear had been mostly torn off, jaw broken from being bit and hit. Oogy was left at the scene of the abuse in a cage to die. Luckily, there were police that came to the place where the dog was located, and they instantly took him to get fixed. The doctors there were not going to let Oogy die, so they spent several hours in surgery to stop the bleeding, make up for lost blood, and tried to put back some of what Oogy had looked like before. After his surgery, Oogy got adopted by a family and their sons who instantly fell in love with his uniqueness and happiness. Oogy ended up being the sweetest, most perfect dog for that family, and although he was a big dog, he loved to think he was a lap dog at 85 pounds. Oogy never showed an aggressive side, despite how he had been treated. The family accommodated Oogy’s needs, as sometimes he would have bad dreams or how he hated being in the cage because of his past abuse. (Levin)
There are both moral and immoral parts to this story. In the beginning, Oogy was being used as bait. To me, that is absolutely terrible and immoral: I do not think any animal should ever have to go through that or any other form of abuse. In the story, the writer did not know how the police found out or where it happened, but someone had to of called the scene in, so the police were to show up. That shows that someone knew it was not right and they wanted to stop it. The best part of the story is the ended, the perfect family adopted and loved Oogy for how he was, and they changed his life. They constantly were trying to do everything to make that dog’s life better, which is super sweet and loving. The hospital that cared for him, against all odds, shows that they were not going to give up because it was bad for Oogy.
I think that the people who treated Oogy bad are obviously not very great people because they harmed him and let him be harmed by other dogs and left him to die. I think it is completely immoral to abuse and animal. However, I think the doctors who cared for and helped Oogy are amazing people, along with the family, who accepted him for who he was. The hospital Oogy was at never took money for helping him, they just cared and helped him, which I think there needs to be more people like that in the world. The family that took in Oogy was acting off of the ethical theory, utilitarianism, which means to do things on the behalf or interest of all people or things. The family took in Oogy out of both ethical egoism (doing things based on self-interest) and utilitarianism, honestly. In the story, the family said that Oogy was so sweet right away and that they wanted him, which indicated the ethical egoism. However, when they get Oogy home, utilitarianism is exemplified by all the ways they show Oogy they love and care for him.