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Title: This Book Could Not Be Published Now
Review: I re-read this one about a month ago. I had read it about 12 years ago and was pretty much turned off by the blatant animal cruelty. I know people hunt and eat raccoons and harvest their fur, but the very graphic descriptions of treeing a coon and having the dogs tear it up, plus raccoons left in leg traps for days was awful. Then there is the gory wounding (disembowelment!) of the protaganist's dog by a mountain lion at the end and both dogs die. Watching the Animal Cops shows on Animal Planet now and seeing the extent of animal cruelty perpetrated by humans, why read about more of it?These days with animal protection movements I don't think this story would have had a prayer in the publishing houses, much less become a classic. If you love dogs and animals in general, steer clear of this one.
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