Possible abused dog-what would U do?

[Beastlover]

My sis came over yesterday, and asked me if I would take in a Golden Retreiver. I am a GR lover, had a wonderful one who lived just past 13 years, and we had to put him down New Years Eve last year. I miss having a GR sooo much, but we have another dog who is 9 (Keeshond) and a sweetie.
Anyway, she told me that last week, she was working in her back yard (just moved into the house) and along comes this GR...trotting along as they tend to do--almost like "hey! whatcha doin here? can I help?" as GR's like to do! She checked his tags, and saw he was from just down the street, so she figured she would bring him home. As she got closer to the house, he was bearing down, resisting walking, and she had to pull him and coerce (spelled?) him to go. when they got there, this older man came to the door, and proceeded not to thank my sis for bringing him home, but yelling at the dog. My sis left, and one of the neighbors said "why did you bring him home?" my sis was confused, as she had not put everything together yet. The neighbor said the man moved into son's house, and is alcoholic, and abusive to the dog. Then she put it all together. She said the next time the dog wandered into her yard, she wanted to give him to us.
What do you think of this? I have been watching the GR rescue sites, thinking of getting another GR, but wanted to take one that someone gave away. It is so sad, they are such a wonderful breed, it just breaks my heart that someone abuses animals. Why keep them if you do that? I know...denial...I also know that an untrained dog of any kind can be a nuisance.
What would you do?

 

[Aprille]

Under the set of circumstances you describe, I would keep him.

Sounds like he is a very lucky dog if you take him in.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I would keep him and contact your local humane society. Keep in mind this abusive owner may try to get him back.

 

[Bojangles]

I know she wants to help, but stealing someone's pet is also wrong. If she has concerns, she should call the police, humane society, or animal control.

 

[jinxed]

I had neighbors that were abusive to their pets, it was so sad and broke my heart. They had a couple of dogs and many many cats. One day their were two tiny kittens maye a couple weeks old, they couldn't even walk, sitting in the grass near my door. I know they came from a litter one of their cats had. I called a friend who worked with animal rescue and by the time she came only one kitten was left there, don't know where the other one crawled to. But she took it to her place of employment where they had to bottlefeed this poor kittie. It also had worms. Well one of the workers ended up taking the kitten home to care for, because it needed constant care and fell in love with it and decided to keep it.

Another time, one of their full grown cats warmed up to my family and kept sneaking in my house everytime I opened the door. I started feeding it and it would eat like it was days since it's last meal. I ended up keeping the cat indoors with us, wondering if they would notice the cat missing. Well if they did, they never mentioned it. I already had 3 cats, so I found a great home for this cat and he is doing fine.

What I am trying to get at is even though I don't agree with stealing someone's pet, but in certain cases, I would do it. Or at least call someone who can do something about it.

 

[Beastlover]

jinxed-how wonderful to hear your stories!!
I understand the stealing concept, but if the dog leaves all the time, obviously it doesn't want to be there. If animal control were to take the dog because of abuse, would that be stealing?
Its not that I am trying to get a dog for free, I am just looking at the situation.

 

[Bojangles]

Originally posted by Beastlover
If animal control were to take the dog because of abuse, would that be stealing?

No. That is their job. They are authorized to remove animals from abusive homes. You are not.

 

[Serena]

You might ask the owner if he really wants the dog. He may wish someone would take it.

That's how I got my first dog when I was growing up. We were at a carnival and this little dog was on a rope begging for food. My aunt asked the guy there and he told her to take it. I claimed it after that.

Other than that, yeah, if it came over again, I'd assume the owner really doesn't care and wait to see if he mentioned missing the dog.

 

[Blondie]

I just went through a similar situation a few weeks ago and posted about it here.

Be prepared to get slammed if you don't become "gung ho" and attempt to cross property lines to steal the dog. Be prepared to be accused of watching this situation and not doing anything about it if you don't make a call and or intervene.

Good luck!

 

[Lewski709]

 

[Lewski709]

If he comes back, keep him. Remove the collar and get a new one. How did you know whose dog he was? It's likely you can begin calling him anything you want and he will never respond to the name the other family was calling him if they come around, if he truly is being abused. I would feel no remorse.

If he doesn't come around again soon, I don't know what to do. You can call, but most likely no one will do anything.

And like Blondie said, 'others' will come and make you feel awful if you don't do anything.

Sorry Blondie.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

but if the dog leaves all the time, obviously it doesn't want to be there.

no, I can assure you that my neighbor's have a dog that will bolt through the neighborhood at any given opportunity and there has never been a more spoiled, pampered animal. Some dogs just like to go visiting by nature. Also, the dog may have been dragging his feet because he was out exploring and just not ready to return home yet. Some dogs are just like that.

The problem is, you are hearing from your sister who heard from somebody else that this dog is abused. That is pretty shaky grounds to use to justify what is really stealing somebody else's pet. There was nothing in your story to indicate he was malnourshished, limping, or physically damaged in anyway -- In fact you stated that your sister was able to read his tags to know where to take them. That means that somebody cared enough about the dog to at least tag him.

I'm all for having abused dogs removed from homes. But I don't think neighbors should take it upon themselves to take action without some hard facts.

 

[Rutt and Tuke]

I would care for the dog when he comes by to visit, but not forcibly keep him. I also think asking the owner if you can keep him is a good idea.

 

[peachgirl]

Did the dog appear to be abused? Was he underweight or show any signs at all? Just because he didn't want to go home doesn't mean he's abused. Our dog will bolt out the door if given the slightest chance. The only way to catch him is to get in the car and catch up with him. The minute he sees the car, he stops. All we have to do is open the door and he jumps in. Along with liking to run, he loves to go for car rides.


I wouldn't keep an animal if I knew who it's owner was. If one came onto my property and I believed it was being abused, I'd call the authorities and let them handle it.

If your sister has serious concerns that the dog is being abused she should call and report it. If the dog is really being abused, I can't imagine just letting it suffer and hope that it somehow manages to get away again.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I guess I will set myself up to be flamed here, but here goes.

DH and I were visiting friends who live on a farm in the country. A really sweet puppy (about 6 months old) came up to our truck with no tags, and we could see that he was not healthy. He was bloated from worms, and just looked really bad. Our friends said that he "belonged" to the old man who lived on the next farm, the pup was a stray that wandered into his yard. They said that the old guy had a lot of cats, and when he thought that he had too many kittens, he took them out into the yard, and bopped them on the head with a hammer. DH and I agreed that if this puppy was still by our truck when we left, we would let him get in and come home with us. Sure enough, there he was waiting for us when we were leaving. We took him home, immediately to the vet - he was full of worms, got his shots, and he has been the most obedient dog we have ever had...He actually seems grateful...

We weren't looking for a dog, we already had 3..But we were pretty sure that this pup was not going to make it to his first birthday with what we saw..

I may go to hell for stealing a dog, but I can live with it...

 

[peachgirl]

They said that the old guy had a lot of cats, and when he thought that he had too many kittens, he took them out into the yard, and bopped them on the head with a hammer.

Why on earth would your neighbors watch this go on and not call someone? Apparently he did this over and over again and they never did anything about it? I guess I don't understand how anyone can feel so much sympathy for a dog that has worms, yet do nothing about kittens being slaughtered with a hammer.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by peachgirl
Why on earth would your neighbors watch this go on and not call someone? Apparently he did this over and over again and they never did anything about it? I guess I don't understand how anyone can feel so much sympathy for a dog that has worms, yet do nothing about kittens being slaughtered with a hammer.

Ya know, I just don't have an answer for this.. My friends love animals and are the kindest people I know, so I really don't know why they didn't report this..It was 6 years ago.. They probably got this information from someone else, as I am sure they did not socialize with this psycho.. And out there in the deep country, you don't know what someone might do in retribution.

The only explanation I can think of now is that they live out in the country....way out in the country. And things are done (or not done) a little differently in the country.

I certainly hope that you are not saying something about ME not reporting this guy, as I had no direct knowlege of what he was doing other than hersey. And it was I who had the sympathy for the dog, and took him home with me... I did what I could, I saved the dog..

 

[peachgirl]

I certainly hope that you are not saying something about ME not reporting this guy,

No, I was assuming your friends knew and consented to what you decided to do.

It's not something I would have done, but no flames from me for your decision to do it.

 

[Beastlover]

Wow, this has gotten heated, and that was not my intention. I am not about "stealing" anyone else's animal.

I guess if the dog comes around my sis again, she can call animal control and hopefully they can find a solution to this problem.

Thanks for the input--

 

[Donna]

hrh,
you're my hero! When it comes to saving a dog, i guess for me, there are no limits, but that is just me. I've been in a similar situation. my neighbors boxers were jumping their cage and hanging there (yes, they leashed them IN the cage) and when i ran over to release them, they accused me of trespassing. well, they would have died otherwise, so i didn't care if they called the police or not. As for the OP, i have a golden retriever also and they are the smartest dog i've ever seen. If he doesn't want to go back there, there's a reason. I think i'd try to talk to that neighbor that said don't bring the dog back and get a feel for the situation. The neighbors i had been talking about also had a cocker spaniel that i literally saw them kick, i TOOK THE DOG one night, left a note. they came over and i offered them $400 which they immediately took. I had the dog with a cocker rescue within 3 days and she's a little princess now with a loving home. I am convinced she wouldn't be alive today had i not took her that night. they just wanted the money and were glad to get rid of her. according to them, they were planning on breeding her (backyard breeders) just like they did with the boxers. Good Luck!