Signs, Signs, Everywhere are Signs

If you are old enough to remember this song you will know that it is simply about signs.  So is today's blog.  (more or less).  We have a sign on the SPCA door that reads, "Stop cruelty to animals, No smoking."  I find it an amusing way to say no smoking.  Others may read something else into that sign such as the man who offered a donation.  He stated that this would be his last donation if that sign was still on the door next year.

My first take on his response to the sign is that he must be a smoker.  My second take was "really?"  In Pennsylvania a business is required, by law, to post a no smoking sign.  So what if we put an amusing spin on it? 

But then, a former employee visited the shelter with her new dog.  The dog smelled of cigarette smoke and I said to the dog, "Don't you know smoking is bad for you?"  The dog didn't reply (:-) but the owner did. While she admitted that she should not be smoking, I thought of the second hand smoke the dog inhaled.  Is it cruel? 

Studies on asthmatic children have found that their risk of having asthma was increased if they had parents who smoked.  So we do know that cigarette smoking is bad for smokers and those who inhale the second hand smoke. Are our dogs at risk?  (And cats too, of course.)

So the sign stays.