Throw Away Pets

[Geri]

I guess most rural people have the same problem with animals showing up at your house whether you want or need them. I have two cats and now three dogs besides the dog we picked out as a puppy! Our neighbors dog moved in with three pups and two adult 1 year old males from a previous litter. The 1 year olds dissappeared. I took the pups to SPCA but, they wouldn't take her. NO ROOM FOR ADULT DOGS..THEY MOVE SLOW ON ADOPTION. So, I got her fixed after she was here a month and the neighbor never came looking for her. The cats came at different times. The dalmation mix on the tractor picture, lived in our cactus for a month before I coaxed him to me one day for food. I'd keep em all if I could but, I can't. I just get so upset with people who think they want pets then, throw them away when they no longer want them or realize they made a mistake.

 

[TresCrows]

It makes me very angry and very sad. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. Not to come across as a PETA sort but there is strong scientific evidence that love is a mamallian response and instinct honed by eons of evolution to protect young and provide for rearing of young and bonding for protection. Certainly humans have the greatest capacity to love and obviously the greatest capacity to be cruel, heartless and unloving. J

 

[JD3520]

We have two animal control officers in our county (plus at least one additional aco in each of our 5 largest cities). During the first week in february ONE of our two animal control officers picked up an even 100 dogs and took them to our SPCA. He also picked up several cats that are not included in that figure. There is no way the SPCA can adopt out that many dogs in our county. We are a dumping ground for Dallas in more ways than one. I just could not do his job.

 

[6or7dazeaweek]

Having lost two of my faithful companions to cancer this past year, I was not sure I was ready for any more dogs.

Reluctantly, I went online to the Scottish Terrier rescue group & filled out an application to adopt. I preferred female dogs but decided that either gender would be good if they needed a good home.

I got a call from the rescue group a couple of weeks ago...saying they had a slow year and not many Scotties were up for adoption BUT she had two males coming in from the same household & wondered if I'd take them both. I told her that I'd be there on Saturday to take a look at them. I guess you could say they won my heart right away. One's an 8 year old West Highland Terrier & the other is a 7 year old Scottie. They have filled a void in my heart in such a short time and I'll be giving them all the love & attention they can stand while they're here with me.

In my area I think we're pretty fortunate that there's not a lot of abandoned pets...at least I don't hear much about it which is good.

I can only urge anyone that is grieving over the loss of a pet to go ahead & adopt an adult dog....they have so much love to give.

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Jon

 

[Bird]

I guess everyone living out in the country has a problem with dogs and cats dumped in their area. We had it at our place 60 miles south of Dallas, and we had it way back when I was a kid in southern Oklahoma in the '40s and '50s.

And Jon, like you, I wasn't at all sure I wanted another dog now that we're living in town again. I tend to get too attached to them and then it's tough when you lose one. But my wife wanted one. So we visited all the local shelters several times looking for a Chihuahua; only found one and since 4 people wanted it, they had a drawing and we didn't win.

Then I spent a lot of hours on the Internet checking with the rescue groups. I suppose that's a good way to find a dog, but guess I don't understand how they operate and I had no luck at all. They all wanted you to fill out a lengthy application with a number of questions I couldn't answer, such as the name, address, and phone number of our veterinarian. Since we didn't have a dog and have lived here about 4 months, we didn't know any veterinarians in the area. Sure, we had a good one when we lived in the country and had animals, but not here. So I wanted to talk to someone first. I sent e-mails and never got a response from any of them. I called some on the phone, got answering machines, and the calls were never returned. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

So finally, we went to the All Pets Expo at the Grapevine Convention Center a couple of weekends ago, and naturally my wife fell in love with a puppy there, so we now have one from a puppy mill, which is just what most folks say you shouldn't do. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Farmwithjunk]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I just get so upset with people who think they want pets then, throw them away when they no longer want them or realize they made a mistake. )</font>

Want to hear something even worse? Some people take on the same attitude towards CHILDREN. They want them until they find out how much effort it takes AFTER the "puppy stage" is over.

As I see it, the biggest single problem with people in todays world is the LACK of responsibility for ones own actions.

And the fastest way to get me in a dither is to mess with children, old folks, and small animal. (NO, I'm not against hunting. Just against this MISTREATMENT of animals)

Oh, by the way, we're dog shopping ourselves. Plan is to get a "mutt" from the local shelter. (Wife wants a dog or another child. The dog wins.)

 

[Boondox]

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

 

[bmac]

Bird,

I've seen those rescue adoption forms - I think adopting a child would require less information. I understand that they want to make sure they are not putting these dogs in a situation where they would be returned by the new owner or placed into another abusive home. But, they could show the courtesy of returning calls or e-mails. I guess the other thing to remember is that these rescue groups are run by volunteers. Maybe you just caught them at a bad time.

In any event, good luck with the new pet. I have 2 pet-mill dogs (I like to think I rescued them) and they have been healthy and good natured. I haven't seen any of the in-breeding problems that plague that industry.

 

[riptides]

All our dogs are pound/shelter pups. Unfortunate the hard part is telling the shelter/pound we just cannot take any more in.

With the snowstorm this past w/e I found two more running through our property. Called one, it came to me, had an electric collar on, but no other markings, tooks off before I could get it.

A lot of us lost power during the storm, one would have thought to bring the animals in, or secure them better.

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JimR]

Stupid people shouldn't own pets or have children. If they treat animals that way. You can only imagine how they treat their children. Almost every dog I have ever owned came from the Animal Rescue League.