I 'm the controller for a manufacturing company in Lawndale, Ca. The business is owned and managed by two brothers, Erik and Brian. Although we work in a very impoverished area, the company’s building, with its flowering vines and yellow awnings is a bright spot in the neighborhood.

I think we are all animal lovers. Erik brings his two dogs Fritz and Heidi to work each day and we have two cats, Jerky and Jet, who live there. From time to time I have taken my dogs to work with me. We have a dozen or so employees. It often feels like family (especially when we’re fighting).

A few weeks ago a little dog got hit by a car right in front of our building. His little owner had walked him up to the corner gas station to hose him down during the heat wave (the kids in this neighborhood have no yards or garden hose). The boy was frozen on the curb watching his dog struggle in the street.

His name was Pepper. He had slipped out of his leash, soaking wet, run out into traffic and been hit by a car. Brian ran to the street and scooped up Pepper and carried him to the curb, but there was nothing to be done. Erik knelt on the curb and stroked him and told him what a good dog he was while he passed from this life to the next. I held his little owner and told him he was a good boy too.

Erik and Brian dug a grave for Pepper. All of the neighborhood kids still come and put things on the site. They bring candles, lighters, school pictures, little statues, and even pictures of their dogs. The kids are all very shy, and a little nervous around us. They don’t speak English very well. I just smile. When they leave I blow kisses and tell them to be very careful crossing the street.