We live in a disposable society, too willing to throw away our pets.

The “creature” in Turner is proof.

As amusing as the wild summertime speculation has been, this animal – a dog of unknown breed – was most likely a once-domesticated animal living with a local family. We will never know what circumstances placed that dog in the woods or how long the animal was fending for himself, but we do know that he did not deserve such treatment. No pet does.

We heard from a wildlife photographer who had seen the dog several times wandering in the woods of Turner and Lewiston. The photographer was seeking wildlife pictures; the dog’s only intent, the photographer said, was survival.

While the tale of this odd-looking – some say mysterious – creature zoomed around the world, the photographer was absolutely right in telling us, “It is more a sad story of the ignorance of dog owners who probably turned it loose.”

The problem of abandoned pets in this country is, according to the American Humane Society, close to epidemic.

An estimated 60 million pet dogs live in this country. And, every year, we drop millions upon millions of these pets off at animal shelters, where an estimated 64 percent are euthanized. Who knows how many animals are just dumped in the woods and along highways, with no expected means to survive.

It’s shameful this happens in a country – which spends billions on pet toys and accessories – that is so proud of pampering its pets. And it’s tragic that we can’t, as a society, figure out a solution.

The top reason we relinquish dogs to shelters or the wild is because we are moving ourselves and cannot arrange to take our pets. That’s followed closely by landlord issues with dog ownership and the cost of caring for the animal. For many of us, dropping a dog off at an animal shelter seems like a good solution because we believe it will be adopted into a loving home.

That good fortune only happens to about one-third of all shelter dogs. The rest are “humanely” euthanized, whatever that means. The estimate of shelter euthanization across this country is well over 10 million dogs each year. The numbers are exceptionally higher for cats.

That’s a holocaust for which humans are solely responsible, and that’s the real horror of this tale.