General :: Keeping A Constant Space Between 2 Words In A File?

I have a text file that gets produced at the end of the script being run.

For this example the text file will produce the following:

Quote:

THE COW
THE DOG
THE CAT
THE HORSE

In the script I am using either echo or printf to print on the screen each line and then it is doing a test and produces a good or bad result.

Another example:

Quote:

THE COW -- IS HOME
THE DOG -- IS HOME

Each whitespace between the -- are 5 spaces. How can I get them to be in-line and formatted when it gets to more words, when THE HORSE arrives.

Example:

Quote:

THE COW -- IS HOME
THE DOG -- IS HOME
THE CAT -- IS HOME
THE HORSE -- IS HOME <-- This has only 3 whitespaces but is still formatted.