Dr. Jacob is sitting in a large corner office, over looking the fantastic view of downtown San Diego. The CEO of Dr. Jacob’s company, Bio Research, is sitting across the desk, like a statue. Dr. Jacob was called into this unexpected meeting all in sudden.  He has any clue what is happening, but he can sense something big is coming up. His hands are sweating. He feels butterflies inside his stomach. He tries to look clam by holding his hands tight, but that only makes his hands sweat even more. The meeting room is dead quiet, he can hear the clock on the wall is ticking.  tick-tick-tick. The few seconds since Dr. Jacob entered the room  seems like an eternity.  Finally the CEO breaks the silence and says:

“Dr. Jacob, I have a bad news for you. Starting today, the company will discontinue all financial support to Bobby.”

Dr. Jacob hear the words, he interrupts the CEO hastily and says, “You can’t do this to me. Bobby is my precious child. Do you remember 3 years ago when he was born, everyone in the company joined me to celebrate his birth. Do you remember you were also there on the day he speaks his first word. Do you remember last month we had a great time in his birthday party? You can not just pull the plug from Bobby.”

The CEO listens with patient, wait until Dr. Jacob is finish, and says, “Jacob, I am really sorry, I wish I can help, but there is nothing I could do. The board of directors made this decision final.”

Dr. Jacob does not give up, he try his best to convince the CEO to take back this decision. He tries to make the CEO recall the good memory he had with Bobby. He tells stories how Bobby brings love and joy to the workers in his lab. He tells how important Bobby is to him and Bobby is the meaning of his life. Dr. Jacob keeps pleading and begging, but the CEO is not moved. The CEO just states coldly that the decision has been made. The earning is not looking good this quarter and the company can not afford to spend any more money on Bobby. The CEO urges Dr. Jacob to accept the fact and move on. While Dr. Jacob is making himself heard, he is getting more and more excited. He raises his voice and starting waving his fist. At the end, Dr. Jacob is pointer his fingers to the CEO, yelling at him, and says “What you are doing is killing.  You are killing Bobby. You murderer.” At this point, the CEO feels his personal safety is in threat; he calls in the security at once, telling them “Please take this man out of my sight.” Dr. Jacob is still screaming and kicking when he is dragging out of the CEO’s office by the securities.

At last, the office door is close again, the room returns to quiet. The CEO takes a few moments to collect his thoughts. He just wonders to himself, why Dr. Jacob makes such a big deal about terminating Bobby, it is just a genetic modified dog after all.