Cardinal’s final flight ends abruptly

(SENSELESS MURDER! My response? This is not the “circle of life.“ This is the senseless circle of death caused by irresponsible pet owners who callously enable their pets to murder our fauna.)

The beagle blasts out the backdoor like hell’s own hound, howling in anger as a neighbor’s cat springs in a fuzzy blur out of the yard and over the fence.

It’s the usual lunchtime procedure: I let the dog out to chase the well-fed, healthy housecats that stalk the birdfeeder like Somali pirates hunting cruise ships, only this time the cat leaves behind more than just its evil intention.

A bird lies on the ground. Its orange beak opens and closes and its throat moves as if trying to chirp.

It makes no sound. It can’t. It can barely breathe for the punctures in its body and the mangling of its head, its right eye blind and feathery underbelly wet with cat saliva and fresh maul marks.