Throw Away Pets

[scott_vt]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( We don't get many dropoffs because we live on a narrow dead end dirt road and the culprits can't get away without being seen...but one bitterly cold winter several years ago my wife and I were driving home from a friend's birthday party and saw a very old golden shivering in the middle of our road at minus 35F. There were car tracks in the snow, human tracks like somebody got out and opened a back door, then the dog's tracks. He only went about ten feet before just stopping to shiver.

Of course we brought him home to warm up. Judging from his teeth he was probably close to 15 years old. There was a CT number on his collar. We called. It was the cell phone of a tourist up for a skiing vacation. The dog had cancer and he didn't want to put him down...so he was left to freeze to death! Grrrrr!

On the PETA front, you might find their hypocrisy an interesting read. Check out PETA kills )</font>
Mornin Pete,
They had money to go sking but not enough to put the poor dog down humanely /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

scotty

 

[jmc]

Around here there's a spike in abandoned pets when the University breaks for the summer. Besides the usual pets, exotic fish, snakes, and reptiles show up around the local lakes. Somebody fishing caught a pirranha. A lake near here is under quarantine because someone dumped their aquarium and an invasive species of weed took over the lake and threatens to spread across the State.

 

[SnowRidge]

Our mostly rural county has a population of about 20,000. Animal control gets dispatched an average of 70 times a week. We just built a new shelter and offices for them. They were operating out of a trailer. Someone donated a big chunk of money, so the new facility is nicely equipped.

The old shelter was torched by arsonists. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

We get a lot of drop offs on our road. There is an old abandoned house nearby, which usually is housing one or more cast off cats. What with malnutrition, disease, loose dogs, coyotes, and other predators, they usually don't last long.

It is a shame. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[deerefan]

Well, call me softhearted, but I can't help it. My wife and I have 12 dogs, 5 of which just showed up. One we adopted b/c the owner was going to have her put down b/c where he was moving to did not allow animals. My wife and I also recently babysat a 4 mo. old australian shepherd, who, get this, was ran over ON PURPOSE by her owner b/c she chased his car. He was trying to break her of the habit. The vet my wife works for confiscated the dog and a nice couple adopted it. We could really learn alot from animals, especially when it comes to unconditional love and forgiveness.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

It's always been my finding that people who are kind to animals, dogs in particular, are good, kind people in general. (That's intended as a compliment. Keep up the good work!)

 

[Sigarms]

I know about this issue all to well.

Both my wife and myself work with the local humane society and it gets "very interesting".

People make it interesting, you would be surprised at some of the questions and thoughts of some of the people we work with.

Example. We took a small "mix breed" in from an elderly lady who apparently couldn't take care of it anymore due to health reasons. Six weeks later, this dog has a great, caring loving home. But...that same lady that we took the dog from just got another dog. Apparently she couldn't house train the dog we took in and made a comment that if she couldn't train this dog (the new one she just got), she would just call the Humane Society to take it away again. Nice to know that people will out and out lie to your face.

Each resue group can have different "standards" on their adoption policies as well. Depending on the group, sometimes it can make you (the person looking for a pet) wonder about the group in question as well.

My personal opinion (sp?) since I am a relocated yankee is that abandoned animals are more of an issue in the "south" as compared to the "north".

Since being involved for the last seven months, both my wife and I have "fostered" ten dogs so far, and eight have found loving/caring homes for which the people who got them where very happy. On that note, we do have two still in foster care if anyone is interested, I can e-mail pics /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif (hey, I have to at least mention it, you never know!). Both are great dogs who would make great pets. One thing we do is take any animal back that doesn't "work out". It makes no sense to find an animal a home only to have it "dumped" again.

And yes, you can get attached to each and everyone you bring into your house to foster. Interesting that if you came across a dog and had him for a day, it seems as if you're "standards" for a home is "if you want him, you can have him", but...keep that same dog in your house for a couple of months, and you WANT to make sure that you can find the best home possible for that pet. With us, we keep the dog "isolated" in a fenced area to make sure that there are not any "medical issues" that could affect us or our animals. Then, depending on the "personality" of the animal, we keep them in the kitchen, then they have access to the whole house. Our thoughts are that a well behaved, house trained animal is easier to find a loving home than just an "outside" dog. Because of the time we take with these animals, it's ALWAYS hard to take them to a new home (it's like giving one of your own dogs away to an extent), but...if we find a home for a "foster", that means we can make room for another.

I consider myself lucky that we have three dogs of our own, so anydog that we take in becomes a "part of our house", and our dogs can actually help "train" those that we bring in.

I would like to suggest that anyone that has a pet, unless you're in the breeding business, please have it "fixed" as soon as possible.

I drive a "country road" to the interstate for work, and surprise surprise, every once in awhile early in the morning I'll see dogs copulating (sp?) out in a field somewhere. These are the same owners of these "pets" who don't want to take any responsibility for their animals.

One good website to locate animals is petfinder.com

Just put in the area/breed/type that you're looking for and you would be surprised at the amount of animals listed on that website.

PetSmart stores also usually have rescue groups at their store on the weekends as well for anyone looking for a pet. All you need to do is just call and ask.

Just remember that if you had a dog that you've loved and lost, and are afraid of loving and losing another pet, you have the same chance to get and give that same "love" and companionship that you once had. Some of these abandoned animals will never know a house with filled with love and campanionship. You do have a chance to make a difference and give a pet a life it may never of known existed.

I would like to think that we as humans are supposed to "smarter" than the animals. Sometimes I really do wonder.

 

[EddieWalker]

On Christmas day, this guy showed up at our place. We're just down the road from a gas station along Interstate 20, but otherwise, there's nobody close by.

He was in great shape, wasn't hungry and didn't apear to have been on his own very long. We could tell he used to have a collar, but it was gone.

We think he was dumped at the gas station either that day or Christmas Eve. Either way, it just bothers us that is what somebody decided to do to him.

He has the land to run around on without any fences. He could leave any time, but chooses to stay with us. He might be gone for hours at a time running around, but he's always here waiting for Steph and the kids when they get home.

We think he was dumped because of how much energy he has and if he was kept in a small yard, he would be a handful. He'll run for hours at a time and seems most happy chasing birds and following a scent all over the country side. It's just fun watching his antics. Ever see a dog chase a bird flying through the air with his head up not watching where he's going? hahahaha

We're thankful to have him,
Eddie

 

[JimR]

Eddie, That's a dang bird dog you got there. No wonder the last owner got rid of him. If couped up they howl and bark all day long at the slightest thing. They have tons of energy and need to be out and about running, walking or hunting. I rescued a Blue Tick from a state park years ago and found it a good home with my neighbor the farmer. Ol Daisy dog would howl all day long. Had a nose for deer too. She was out running deer and found me in my tree stand during bow season. She was running a buck back and forth about 50 yards away and sniffed me out. I couldn't house train her to save my butt. The farmer was looking for a good farm dog he could keep outside in a dog house.

 

[scott_vt]

Hi Eddie,
I once owned a weimeraner sp? since he was a puppy. I was gonna turn him into a bird dog and do some quail, woodcock hunting. It never did work out too well, he turned into a pet for 13 years, but heck I never shot my hunting buddies either /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

scotty

 

[JimR]

Now Scooty, That's not a nice thing to say. I think most bird hunters have been peppered once in their lifetime by accident. I know I was many years ago by someone in the woods that didn't know I was in there also. It is easy to do when you are on a bird. Fortunately for me, I have never peppered another hunter yet. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif