My book club members were so appalled by the dogs getting raccoons.
Generally, I’m kind of live and let live with wild animals.
Raccoons can be trouble.
Farmers see them as pests.
If I remember right, the young guy in the book wanted to train his dogs to win a competition so he could help out his family. They were poor.
It was a different time and a different culture.
The universal messages of the book shouldn’t be lost because we live in a different time and culture.