The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy . Those who are nearest and dearest to us may become traitors to their faith . The people who are prone to fall on their knees when success is with us maybe the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles it's cloud upon our heads .

The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world is his dog . A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty , in health and sickness . He will sleep on the cold ground when the wintry winds blow fiercely . If only he may be near the master's side . He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer , he will lick the wounds that come in encounters with the world.

 He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince . When all other friends desert he remains. And when death takes the master in it's embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground , no matter if all other friends pursue their way , there by his graveside will be the noble dog he found , his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.

(Taken from a speech to a jury by the late Senator Vest of Missouri in the Trial of a action to recover damage for the killing of a dog belonging to a neighbor . Article found in an old newspaper clipping @ a Restaurant in Brenham, Texas)