Just goes to show how people LOVE their animals...
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Gizmo the dog has inspired, incited and moved thousands of people since Monday night, when his owner says he was place-kicked like a football and died in the parking lot of the Nashboro Village apartments.
How can a 16-year-old, 2-pound Yorkshire terrier cause hundreds of people who never knew him to write, call and offer support? Almost a quarter-million people have viewed Tennessean.com articles and related information on the pooch and his owner, Jelani Lewis.
Gizmo garnered more attention and sympathy than many murder victims.
Psychologists and other experts say the dog death provided a safe outlet for people to vent frustration in a chaotic world. Showing emotion for an animal can be less painful and less risky than showing it for humans who are abused or killed.
Oakley Ray, a psychology and psychiatry professor at Vanderbilt University who specializes in animal issues, said it's often easier to pour out emotions on animals that are associated with unconditional love. With people, it can be tricky.
''Any time you express a positive feeling for a person, you always run a risk of rejection,'' Ray said.
More troubling issues about violence against people can be too upsetting.
''We don't want to think about the world,'' Ray said.
Teresa Jones, executive director of Ashley's Place in Gallatin, said she sees people's squeamishness in confronting the issue her center deals with — abused children. It's a challenge to get attention for, say, the annual charity basketball game Saturday.
''I think it's harder for people to accept that things happen to children,'' Jones said. ''It's just too much.''
Jones said she bears no frustration toward high-profile animal cases, such as Gizmo's.
''When sympathy is shown toward animals, it extends toward human beings,'' Jones said. ''It's all good. It shows people have not been desensitized.''
Gizmo's fate touches a nerve with people who might already be emotionally charged, Ray said.
Jo-Ann Saunders of Nashville agrees. She wrote her first letter to the editor after learning about Gizmo.
''There's so much that goes on now, maybe it's just a hot spot,'' Saunders said. ''It's not just with animals. It's the war, the Middle East. It really bothers me that some people think so little of life in general.''
Kelvin O'Brien of Nashville was also shaken up. He phoned his wife, who was traveling in Moscow, to share Gizmo's story. He said she lost a night of sleep after reading the article on the Internet.
''When you are close with a dog, you feel like they are part of the family,'' said O'Brien, who owns a 3-year-old terrier mix, Missy, who resembles Gizmo. ''You just kind of picture it happening to your dog. It was just horrible.''
Ray said three things make Gizmo's story especially moving to people: the small dog's defenselessness, details indicating senseless violence and the delight Lewis said the dog kicker took in his act.
Media coverage also spurs the emotion.
''People are just wanting to get things out of their system,'' Ray said of the public sentiment. ''I think it's healthy for people to be concerned.''
Chad Daniel Crawford, 23, is free on $25,000 bail and faces a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty and a charge of felony vandalism in the reported kicking.
He told The Tennessean he was innocent but has had no further comment. Crawford's grandfather defended him, saying the young man was not capable of such violence.
Residents at Nashboro Village, near Priest Lake, say Crawford is a maintenance worker at the complex.
One witness reported Crawford saying he kicked the dog but didn't recognize what it was on the dark apartment complex grounds Monday night.
Some people who have responded are moved by other concerns: leash laws, animal-cruelty penalties or the passion for animals that might eclipse emotions about violent crimes against humans.
''I was horrified at what happened to Gizmo because I love animals,'' said Mark Rose of Mt. Juliet. ''At the same time, I was amazed at all of the publicity generated by the story. And there's not a peep about all the abortions that go on in the U.S. every day. With the dog story, all the politics is taken out of it.''
http://www.tennessean.com/local/arch...nt_ID=49693206