people and unwanted animals

[Soundguy]

What is it with people 'dumping' unwanted animals?!?

For the second year in a row, my wife has come home from school with kittens that someone puts ont he doorstep of the school then hi-tails it. This time they dropped off only at the middle school. last year they dropped off tot he middle school, elem school, and the fire station down the road. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

We pay to have our animals 'fixed' to prevent unwanted population growth. Out of our 18 cats and dog s ( yep.. 18 ).. all but 1 dog were strays, or rescues.. or ones we adopted from the humane society.

How/where did this 'not my responsibility' mentality from a section of the general population come from?

If I seem a little testy it is because we are having to get up in the middle o fthe night to make the 4 hr feedings and care for the 2 kittens that don't even have their eyes open yet... anyone who has bottle raised cats know what all this entails.. getting them to go to the bathroom and all.... special milk replace formula.. warm pad.. etc.... and on top of this...right now I'm working 70-80 hrs a week between 2 jobs, AND taking care of the farm. Wifes working 60 hrs a week at 2 jobs.. 1 as a middle school teacher, and is driving to another city once a week to take care of her sick parents.

I'm about to the point where i would like to take a stick to someone I see dumping an animal.

One of our dogs, I literally -saw- a car slow down at an intersection, and a yellow lab-mix mut was shoved out into the street, and the car sped off. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I whistled for the dog.. it ran over and hopped in my truck.. had it for 4 years now.. halfway decent dog too... go figure..

grrr.. had to vent.. to tired right now to be thinking reasonably... grr.....

Soundguy

 

[PILOON]

Soundguy
I hear you loud and clear!

But then why not?
Even some cities set the good example--
Do gooders in some suburbs around here that get annoyed with squirrils and coons demand that the city 'trap them humanely' and then the city proceedes to simply release the critters in the rural areas.
As a result we now have black and grey squirrils where they never existed before.

Same for beavers: 'you musten't harm god's creatures', well some of those 'do gooders' are now complaining that all their beautiful waterfront trees are gone.
Now they want us to 'trap and relocate' the beavers.
Sure, easier said than done. Trappers want $50.00 per catch and that still does not solve the problem.
Beavers replicate faster than humans (nat'l Geographic) and their ONLY predatator is man.
As far as being 'engineers' beaver need to go back to school as most of their fellings tend to get hung up. They also drop their timber on docks, boats and the occasional house.

(PS, I also needed to vent)

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I'm not normally one to quote Ghandi, but he made the comment that a society can be judged by the way it treat's it's animals. I sure don't advocate everyone having a cow in their living room, but come on people.

These dogs and cats (and a long list of other less conventional pets) don't deserve what happens to them. In a great many cases, the irresponsible act of "dumping" an animal could have been avoided to begin with by a little responsible pet ownership. So then when the irresponsible act results in MORE cats or dogs, these people further their irresponsibility by dumpng them on an over-burdened animal control system.

Pet laws should be enforced. (No pets left roaming loose) People caught dumping animals should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

MOST normal people aren't cruel by nature. Some are.

If there's any THREE things that get me riled up, it's cruelty towards old folks, children, and small animals. From what I've seen, people who would do one, often times do all three.

 

[MikePA]

We take in rescued animals as well, until they are adopted. We've had several dogs and cats for varying periods of time. By and large, once they acclimate to our collection of dogs and cats, things run smoothly. Our latest dog, and our last for a while, is an ancient Irish setter mix. He's blind and almost completely deaf. Someone had dumped him on a country road where he was picked up months or weeks later (no way of really knowing).

The local agency knew he was mostly deaf and blind (cataracts) and also thought he had cancer, so he was headed to be euthanized. They had him confined to a too small cage sitting in the garage of the agency. A very sad sight. When the rescue place found out about this, they told us and we agreed to care for him until the cancer ran its course. Well, a trip to the vet determined he does not have cancer and except for a slight heart murmur, he's in great shape. So....he'll be around our house for a while.

Being deaf and blind, he can't respond to any of the typical interactions with humans, or other dogs for that matter. He plods around the house, bumping into objects, including the other dogs. One of the dogs gets out of his way, while the others tend to growl at him, which of course, doesn't do any good. He's barked 5 times in all the time we've had him and he has never wagged his tail. It's an interesting experience caring for a dog that can not provide 'feedback'.

As others have mentioned, it's beyond my ability to comprehend how people can simply discard these animals as if they're nothing more than yesterday's garbage, particularly when there are so many options for humanely handling the situation. The thought of someone pushing this old, blind and deaf dog out of a vehicle to fend for himself really raised my blood pressure.

 

[JoeR]

I don't understand why people dump animals. I think it is cruel to dump an animal since it will probably get hit by a car or become pray to coyotes. (In my area, coyotes are very busy). Wouldn't it be more humane to give them to the animal shelter? Not everyone takes in stray animals. I don't. I don't have time or money for more animals...

My mother caught two guys trying to dump a dog in a downtown area! And she had a fit! She stopped them! Of course, she called my right after this happened, and was very upset after seeing this. We had a long discussion about these morons.

I think most of us care about our animals, and animals in general. Although, there are people out there who buy their kids rabbits for Easter, puppies for Christmas, and kittens for their birthday. Animals are not toys. Then I have known people who think YOU NEED A CAT, and give you one as a "GIFT" thinking that will make you happier. I told the lady, that animals are not appropriate "GIFTS", nor did I want her dumping her animals on me just. She also feeds the deer, raccoons, and wild pigs. Talk about causing more problems!

 

[1bush2hog]

Mike -

Great Job and great story. Thanks for sharing.

IMO - It is all a function of our "disposable" society. Combine that with ignorance and the ever so common self gratification generation and this is what we as a society will have to deal with. I won't get on my soapbox

Thank goodness we have others like you and Soundguy.

On a similar note - I personally think the people who engage in the sport of dog fighting should have to go in the ring against one of the dogs.

 

[hudr]

Growing up I never understoof why anyone would "pay" for a pet. We always had at least one dog or cat and they were always strays that someone had dumped in our area. Mom has never been able to let anything starve so of course the animals figured out and hung out where the meals were provided.
Here not too long ago, we even had an emu show up after a local realized how unprofitable they had become and just turned them out. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
We also spay and neuter our "pet" animals. And I hate to say this, but a few unruly "dumps" have wound up w/ terminal lead poisoning due to the fact that we can't feed them all and I will NOT stand for an animal that runs our livestock, even one of my own.
Matter of fact, this leads me to another thread.......

 

[Mark4510]

I dont have much to add about dumping. It seems to me, however, that there are a number of new folks in our rural neighborhood that have dogs that roam at will.

When asked to restrict thier travels they indicate they moved 'into the country' so they could have animals. It bothers me when I see the dogs pack up and get after the cattle across the street. Or worse, when they get after fawns.

I know that a lot of those fawns are going to be cougar or coyote food but, gosh, we dont need to feed these pampered terrors with wildlife.

my 2 cents....
Regards,
Mark

 

[CRJCaptain]

We have the same problem up here in Kentucky, Soundguy.

My wife caught a couple of human rejects red-handed pushing a dog out of a car on our rural driveway not long ago. The car took off and the dog tried to chase it and catch up, but couldn't. It was real tough to watch...

The pathetic thing was that the dog had cigarette burns all over it's body and had obviously been abused. About the only good thing to come of this is that we found someone to take the dog, and he wouldn't have to put up with treatment like that anymore...

 

[JoeR]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I dont have much to add about dumping. It seems to me, however, that there are a number of new folks in our rural neighborhood that have dogs that roam at will.

When asked to restrict thier travels they indicate they moved 'into the country' so they could have animals. It bothers me when I see the dogs pack up and get after the cattle across the street. Or worse, when they get after fawns.

I know that a lot of those fawns are going to be cougar or coyote food but, gosh, we dont need to feed these pampered terrors with wildlife.

my 2 cents....
Regards,
Mark )</font>



When I read your post, I thought you lived near me! I have the same exact problem! I caught a pack of 3 dogs chasing my horses. They cornered one of the horses, and I thought for sure the horse was going to go through the fence! I really wanted to find and shoot the owner.