quotation- The Pact

My quotation from the book, The Pact, is on page 54 where it says, "Tears slowly running down his face, James stepped behind the dog, so quiet and so familiar that Charlie did not even turn around, and lifting the rifle, he shot the dog from the back of the head." In this book, the meaning is that though Charlie, the dog, was sick, he did this to keep him from suffering a painful life that James knew would end in death anyways.

Universal, I think this means you got to let something go for the better of it, even though you want it to stay. In the story, James loved that dog, it has been in his life for quite a few years now. His sickness, no matter how hard the vets tried, could not be cured and James knew the dog would die. His wife though, did not want to put the dog to sleep, she cared too much about the dog that she was selfish into letting him stay longer with his sufferings so she could still be with him. James, although he loved the dog too, knew it was the right thing to do, to shoot the dog so he'd feel no pain and die in peace. Plus, the dog died happy because he was with the person he loved most and doing what he loved most, hunting for animals. It's the same when you're in love, you care enough to do things that hurt you to make the other person happy. so, if your girlfriend loves another guy, the boyfriend should let go of her because if he loved her he should want her to be happy. So to me, I think that's what the quote means.