How many Dogs are too many...?

[Buckcreek]

First of all im not complaining about Dogs I love them. but, I have a big problem . I commented on this in another post but didn't go into any detail for personel reasons. I have some neibors which are family members that have too many dogs to take care of. And they cant get rid of them , and they keep getting more . Another neigbor complained and the dog warden came out and talked to them, Didnt even know we had one. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Well she told them to take the dogs because she couldnt get rid of them or afford to take care of them,, He made up some kind of excuse and left reall quick. The smell around this place is horrible. Now another neibor on the other side of me has around 4 Mutts. which stay with me more then home. and now one of them just had 8 puppies. And i cant walk in my yard for the mess, my grass is all worn down and gone. and i cant afford to fence in my place at this time . Well i quess ive complained enough . But i dread this summer. Last grass cutting season i couldnt hardly stand to put my tractor in my poll barn because of the crap smell. They even climbed up on my chlorinater for my sewage plant and craped /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Well any one want some dogs.......Free to a good home

 

[ByronBob]

You need to make some phone calls to town/county and get on the stick or this won't go away.

 

[Freds]

What do you mean they can't get rid of them?.... they won't try, the dogs' health is too bad, they love them too much? Are they being neglected or just not being picked up after?
Either way I agree with Bob. Call your ag dept and go over the DLO's head. If it's like PA, he falls under their jurisdiction. If it's not illegal to have that many dogs where you're at, it may be to have an unhealthy environment.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Saturday morning, I plowed a 5 acre plot where our church does a corn maze every year. The tennants living on the 40 acre farm where I was at had (at the very least) several dozen dogs living in the house with them. There was Gramma, "sis" and her husband, and their two kids, "brother" and his wife (he's 54, wife's 17....) and his three kids from prior marriage, plus an army of dogs.

I saw 3 Pitbulls, 2 Labs, a Golden Retriever, 5 "coon hounds", and probably 20 small puppies, IN THE HOUSE no less.

That can't be healthy for dogs OR humans. (The house was a shambles)

The plowing was fun though.

 

[EarPlug]

Sounds like you might have an "Animal Collector" on your hands. It is actually a mental illness. Take a look at this GOOGLE Link and see how big of a problem it can be.

Jack

 

[1bush2hog]

We never have too many DAWGS in Georgia! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Buckcreek]

What do you mean they can't get rid of them-- Well She keeps getting more than she gets rid of. And when she gives them away she gives the people who takes them such a hard time they dont want them. She had over 40 dogs at one point. but they have killed each other and died of sickness untill they are down to 14. now. This really hurts me because it is a family member . I know they have mental illness but they wont admit it. Social services have been there , but nothing was done. Now She wants help and cant get it. They are far enough away that i just barely here the dogs barking but i have a sis that lives within 100' of this and she cant stand to go outside for the smell. I told her i would try to help her clean up her yard if she would get rid of the dogs, but most of them stay inside.. and they have chewed up everthing in the home includeing doors and walls. and rats are running out of control. I quess from all the scraps and dog food on the ground. She was bit trying to break up two of the dogs fighting , and when she went to the hospital the called social services. she has a 16 year old son and he has lived like this since he was around 10. thats about when it started. If anyone knows of someone that would be interested in taking some of these dogs let me know and i will tell them . She said she wanted help

 

[Buckcreek]

And another thing She has spent a fortune on vet bills trying to help these animals so she doesnt mean to be cruel. I think in her mind she is helping them.

 

[Marlowe]

This is truly a sad situation, but it reminds me of a story in my life. At the time we had too many dogs, four cats, and a managerie of reptiles, fish, rats, you name it. Between the wife and daughter I wanted to hang an 'Welcome to the Zoo' sign on the front door. The daughter had a baby almost a year ago and he is now the only living thing she wants to take care of. Now we are down to two dogs and two cats.

Back to the story though. My wife and daughter went to the pet store one day and saw a cute little pot bellied pig. I cringed when they told me about it. No way I wanted a pig added to the zoo, but they dragged me down to see it. Yeah, he was cute, but reminded me of bacon. A few days later my wife contacted a lady who raised the little pigs and wanted to go visit her. Under protest, I went. As we entered the drive to her house, we passed a pasture with an absolutely beautiful quarter horse grazing. Maybe this won't be as bad as I expected, I thought. Just beyond the pasture was the lady's house, and out in back were the many pens with the pigs. We toured the pens first. These pigs looked awfully large for what was supposed to be miniatures. Once we looked at all the pens the lady invited us back to the house. Imagine a house with a bunch of pigs having the run of the place. The front and back doors were both open and on the porch was a plastic swimming pool she called the litter box. She had another one I could see from outside the opened door. I didn't go in. In disgust I leaned over to my wife and told her that if she left there with one of those pigs I was packing my things and leaving when we got home. Then I went for a walk to visit that horse. She sent my daughter to get me a few minutes later. She promised me they weren't getting one of the pigs. It was a nightmare to me, but the lady seemed happy as could be.

Oh well, I wish you the best with your dog problem. Anything in excess can be a problem.

 

[1bush2hog]

Buckcreek -

Sorry - I didn't mean to make light of your situation with my previous comment to farmwithjunk.

Have you thought about loading some of the dogs up and taking them to the local Humane Society? or maybe even contacting them for some assistance?

The problem here is not just the overabundance of dogs, but a more serious issue that may require some professional help for your relative. Issues such as this can be difficult to resolve within the family.

Getting rid of the dogs also might not be the best for your relative as there is a reason the situation exists and removing the dogs may only be a temporary fix at best.

Good Luck!