Have to vent about people who don't care for their pets

[luvwinnie]

Last year we kept having to rescue a black pug because his idiot owners who live a block away keep leaving him outside unattended and the fence can't hold him. Once I took off from work to care for him when he showed up! His owners don't speak English well so it was hard to convey to them what they need to do (although it's COMMON SENSE). The animal warden also spoke to them.
We hadn't seen him in a while. Well, he showed up as we were leaving yesterday and his owners weren't home! So DH took him to his mom's house with him. We left a note on the door and called the police too. He is so cute and friendly and thrilled to be with us having fun. I bet he doesn't get much attention. We got home at 5 and they still weren't home! The dog could have been hit by a car or stolen (beautiful purebred and not neutered). We had to go food shopping and couldn't keep him at the house any longer (since he's not neutered he kept trying to get on top of our dogs, who were NOT having it) so I called the police again and they sent someone from the shelter to get him. We told them where he lives and that he keeps getting out. I hope these people either wise up or find him a GOOD HOME.

 

[Chattyaholic]

It's hard to understand why people want a pet but don't take proper care of it. I think you did the right thing.

 

[Keli]

I gotta wonder why in the world someone would spend so much money for a purebred dog and then not bother to neuter them or put up a proper fence to keep them safe.

 

[wdwnutze]

Very sad. Dogs are a lot of work and if someone is not willing to take care of their dog they shouldn't have one.

 

[Otto's Doll]

We have a neighbor who has "disposable" pets. I swear, in the 3 years we have lived here, they have had 4 or 5 cats killed. Their dog was finally picked up by the ASPCA after it repeatedly ran away. (They left the poor thing outside in 10* weather, never had enough food or water. We complained numerous times, but nothing ever happened.) and we just found out they had a litter of kittens recently and just adopted a new puppy. I am so frustrated. These poor animals keep getting killed, they don't take care of them (or their kids for that matter!) and they just keep getting more! Sorry.. just had to vent.
Sigh.

 

[Christine]

This happened to me a few months ago. A purebred Golden Retriever was roaming around the neighborhood. I was on my way out and the dog saw me and came running over wagging its tail, friendly as anything. I knew if I left the dog it would wander up the hill and get hit on the main road. So I put it in my backyard and called the animal warden. I told them that the dog obviously hadn't traveled too far and that I would put some signs up and I would look for the owners. I was *sure* the dog lived in the neighborhood. Well, I spent hours hanging up signs, sitting outside and looking for people who might be looking for a dog. Nothing. Finally, I had the warden come. I found out the following Monday that the owner's had been found through the rabies tag ID number (the county had to call the vet). The owner's lived about 10 houses down from me and around the corner. I'm telling you, these people were not looking for this dog.

I have had the misfortunate of having kids unlock my gate and my dogs getting out because I am unaware the gate is unlocked. Believe me, I am out there like a madwoman looking for my dogs. It is a horrible feeling. And I just can't understand how people can be so non-caring about it.

 

[suzannews]

We had a neighbor move and just leave her cat. We see Sylvester every once in a while but he just roams the neighborhood. Of course he's no where to be found when animal control is around.

 

[momof3disneyholics]

Unfortunately, I hear about this kind of stuff all the time. At the answering service I work at we answer for probably about 10 different vets in differents areas and people call in after hours with all kinds of things. What suprises me most is the number of people that would adopt a pet and never have it vaccinated.
Most people that call these vets after hours have no money and are in an emergency situation and want the vets to do some work for free or on a deferred payment plan. As most of us know most vets do not take payment plans or will do the work for free, esp. at 8 pm on a Sat night.
Some of the calls that stick out in my head the most are these. I had one woman call up and say she had sprayed roach spray on her dog to get rid of fleas and now the dog was going crazy with itching and swelling (go figure). Another was a lady that said her chihuahua (spelling?), was attacked by another dog earlier in the week, she took it to the vet, but had no money so was turned away and now a week later the place where the dog was attacked at was oozing and swollen. A woman said that she didn't have any money to buy her horse food so she fed it a whole bag of sweet feed and now it was collicing. The first question I ask these people before I page the doctors are "Are the shots up to date?" You would not believe how many times people tell me no. I just want to reach through the phone and slap them!! Why have a pet if you are not willing to take care of it. It is only like 8.00 to get a rabies shot in my area!
I also hate to see people get tired of pets and "get rid of them". A pet is suppose to be for life. It would feel like I was giving one of my children away if I gave away one of my pets.
Sorry for the rant, I'll get off of my soap box now.

 

[luvwinnie]

The shelter just emailed me with this info:

He's here. The owner's haven't shown up and he has been pre-adopted, so if they don't come in for him in one week, he'll be neutered and go to a new home. There's not much you can do, unfortunately. I'd continue to call the police to have animal control pick him up, as the fee to reclaim him goes up with each time he comes in. Sometimes the owner gives up once it goes over $100 dollars. The good news is that this type of dog has no problem finding a home.

 

[Beauty]

Mom I couldn't agree more with every word you said! It drives me nuts!!

I am a HUGE animal lover. I have 8 indoor cats and 3 dogs....each and every one of them have all of their shots, even the shots not recommended for inside animals. Each and every one of them goes to the vet once a year for checkups and all but 2 (who I'm wanting kittens from) are fixed!

It drives me nuts when people don't take care of their pets. Also most vets do give discounts on more than one pet and will work with you in any way they can IF IF IF IF they know you take care of and love your animals.......

 

[Stepharoonie!]

Wow. All of this is horrible!

I was thinking of getting a kitty for Madison and I, but one thought is the cost of the cat (shots, food, litter, etc.). I will not get one until I know I can be 100% responsible and able to pay for it.

 

[DocRafiki]

Preaching to the choir here! I could write a daily installation! Sounds like momof3 could too. Just reading your stories makes me furious! When are we going to start passing laws (and enforcing them) that take care of these poor animals??? It drives me insane! Of course, you'll see the same type of people on here, and I will tell them straight up they shouldn't have a pet if they can't take care of it. And for this I get the nasty PMs.

Of course none of this would happen if people would spay and neuter their pets and there was no overpopulation. Then pets would not be disposable just because they wouldn't be a dime a dozen.

Today's example is the lady whose Boston Terrier has parvo. Guess what; the treatment is expensive. And if they don't get it, they'll probably die. "But I run my own business and don't have a lot of money. I just spent $400 buying him!" I told her... FIRST of all, your financial situation has NOTHING to do with what your pet needs. SECOND of all, what kind of moron spends their last dollar BUYING a dog that can easily be gotten for FREE or a few bucks when some other idiot gives it up to the shelter? THIRDLY, what kind of IMBECILE spends so much money on a dog that they don't even have enough left over to get its vaccinations? (A $20 shot would have avoided this whole parvo episode in the first place). FOURTHLY, if you couldn't even afford to get your OTHER dog's vaccines, what made you think you could afford to get a new dog, even if the dog were free??? And of course this chick came in with her nice clothes, her highlighted hair, and her new manicure. That's why I always put "can't afford" in quotation marks.

Steph -- you are very smart to make that decision. You don't see many people being that thoughtful.

 

[DocRafiki]

Originally posted by Christine


I have had the misfortunate of having kids unlock my gate and my dogs getting out because I am unaware the gate is unlocked. Believe me, I am out there like a madwoman looking for my dogs. It is a horrible feeling. And I just can't understand how people can be so non-caring about it.

I hear ya! My heart sinks if my dogs get anywhere NEAR the open door!!! I found two neighbor dogs roaming around this week. Both seemed annoyed when I knocked on their doors to tell me. The one said, "Yeah, I know he's out. He just runs the other way when I call him." She was calmly sitting in the living room with her kid when I knocked (window was wide open).

It just made me nuts because I am the type that will stop on a busy street and risk my safety in order to round up a stray dog. I know I would want someone else to do that for me if my dogs got out. But what am I supposed to do... chase your dog around the neighborhood because you're too lazy to? I don't think so. I just want to tell them they had better not come knocking on my door when their dog gets hit by a car!