Sitting alone to ponder an issue is a good thing, but it often leads only to the next thing — or maybe a snack. But conversation, even, or especially, if heated, can lead to action.

The newspaper and its readers had such a talk this past week in the form of e-mail exchanges, phone calls and comments on Reflector.com. The exchange was sometimes strident, but generally civil and on point, although a few misconceptions remain. But good has already come of it.

I am speaking of the dogs and cats of the Pitt County Animal Shelter on whose behalf the newspaper wrote last Tuesday.

The package in the newspaper and on our Web site included two stories and several pictures, including one well composed and provocative photo of a dog in the early stages of euthanasia.

We received quite a few e-mail messages about this package. At last count there were more than 40 comments attached to the story on Reflector.com. The majority of the comments were positive, while about all of the negative comment focused on the picture, which ran large across the top of our Local & State page.

Here is a sampling of some of the comments we received, either through e-mail or at Reflector.com:

n Kudos to you for the story and the picture that certainly told quite a story.

n I understand the importance of educating people about this issue, but I think another method would have been more appropriate.

n I would like to see your article (and picture) printed in every paper in the country.

nThe shock tactic is effective and equally deplorable.

nWould you also unscrupulously show a photo of a human corpse, without a warning of graphic content?

n I think anyone who has negative comments to make should go to the shelter and volunteer a couple hours ...

A few writers suggested that the photo was staged. This is one of the misconceptions I mentioned. The picture was taken as shelter workers carried out the euthanasia procedure at the kennel where the dog was kept. There is no separate area at the shelter for this process — something perhaps not made clear in our package and misunderstood by some readers. But the scene was exactly as our reporter and photographer found it.

Was the picture in good taste?

Editors work hard to weigh all sides in situations like this, but always forefront in their minds is the news, the issue itself. What really is the story? While the picture was disturbing, the consensus here was that it best illustrated this heart-wrenching subject. It did so in an unsettling way, but it hardly was as graphic as what can be seen many days along our highways — we could have shot that picture instead.

We also considered at length whether to put the package on the newspaper's front page. Instead, we opted for the front of the second section to allow for some warning before the image hit the breakfast table.

In the end, though this reality is harsh, I believe it's better to know it, and see it, than not. And in this story, the picture carried the emotional power its words could not — the power to move people, perhaps to complain but also to volunteer, donate or have their pet neutered.

Those are the results that matter. Anecdotal indicators this week suggest there is increased activity at the shelter and at some veterinarian's offices, while we have received reports of people planning to donate to the Spay Today Clinic after seeing the stories.

That's the important thing, regardless of what you think about the newspaper, its pictures, stories or editors. I hope as this conversation ends that everyone's focus returns to where it should be — on the shelter and its animals, our animals.

Al Clark is executive editor of The Daily Reflector. Tell him what you think at aclark@coxnc.com or 329-9560 .