“Divven't fash yersel', hinny! Ah ken weel wheor Ah'm gannin'. It's akward eneuf noo, but thor'll be nee akwardness i' th' Dark. It's not th' Dark that frightens me, it's their rivin', bloody teeth. Have ye nivver hord say, 'Nee deeth ower bad fer a tod'? Mebbies it'll seun be done. Ah'm not whinjin‘ — Ah'd rather gan te th' Dark like a tod than in yon whitecoat dump o' yours. Tell th' big fella taa taa from me. He wez a grand lad-reet mazer wi' yows, tell him."

On my more recent reread of the Plague Dogs I was able to digest and understand so much more of the underlying themes and messages that Richard Adams included; The anti- vivisection themes, domestic vs wild, etc and it really stood out to me. The Tod has always been my favorite character from the book and his final moment here has always stood out to me so here it is illustrated! Although The Tod taught Snitter and Rowf so much throughout the novel I think it's interesting here that he's learned from them too, declaring that going to the whitecoats and being experimented on is worse than death. As a wild animal, The Tod constantly has to remain vigilant, knowing one wrong move could lead to his death which is how he meets his end: "Ah wez wrang. A tod only hez to be wrang once ye knaa." However despite this, he is more afraid of being torn apart than death itself, a similar sentiment shared by Snitter and Rowf as they make their final journey to the Isle of Dog, deciding drowning and escaping is better than being taken back and experimented on by the whitecoats. Although the ending is somber it is still incredibly powerful leaves a powerful impression on the reader.

Art by the amazingly talented Kisara Fury!