*VENT* Why do people do this...Grrrr

[NMAmy]

You know, I always naively believed that any animals running around were lost--that they'd gotten out of the yard or whatever. Until the day my ex and I were driving through an area of New Mexico that was desert--in the middle of nowhere--and we saw a car pull over and dump a puppy out the door. I started yelling--we pulled over and picked the puppy up immediately. My ex is a cop--he'd gotten the license plate number and called it in. The people were stopped and fined--I thought they should have been tossed in jail, myself.

We took the puppy home--unfortunately, we had four dogs of our own at the time so we couldn't keep him but I found another home for him with someone I knew would care for the poor little guy. I still can't believe the cruelty of dropping a tiny puppy in the desert with no water and 90 degree temperatures that day.

Believe me, I've had days when the dog is getting into mischief and I'd love to just leave her somewhere--heck, I've even felt the same way about dd upon occasion! But, I do love them both even when they're being annoying and would never just dump either one by the side of the road.

 

[Virgo10]

Chuck, I feel your pain. Irresponsible morons are part of the reason I have 16 cats. That and I have sucker tattooed on my forehead.

 

[Freyja]

We took in a 8 week old puppy who had been left outside in December in ICELAND. We had already decided to get a dog, but had imagined we would buy from a breeder. Sometimes life takes unexpected turns, and we love this one

 

[Laura]

People can be such jerks to animals. And to each other as well (which that story of the returned adopted girl sadly shows).

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

I don't understand how people can do this to animals either. I could never just dump one of my pets anywhere never to return. They are my family.

My neighbor passed away years ago and his son came to take care of the house. He only took a few items and left the house to rot, literally, including the cat. He knew about the cat, we reminded him about the cat, and he just said oh well and left. This cat was his fathers one and only family member and friend. She was an older cat and afraid of other people. But my house, my neighbor, and another family all took turns taking care of her. She wouldn't come to us so we couldn't take her in but we would feed her and keep an eye on her. After about 6 months we didn't see her anymore but I really believe a neighbor took her in, at least I hope. It breaks my heart that this son just left the cat to fend for itself.

I'm going to be one of those old ladies that are flat broke but takes in every cat she sees.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My ex is a cop--he'd gotten the license plate number and called it in. The people were stopped and fined

Chalk up one for the good guys!!!

Some of these stories are just so sad, it's amazing to me that anyone could be so heartless...

 

[Saphire]

And if you have a family member who has passed away and left a pet behind, please don't dump them on the road somewhere.

What unspeakable cruelty, to dump them on a road! Yet, we found our first kitten, cold and dying, in the woods.

mickeymousemom, bless you for being so kind to those senior dogs and taking them in.

 

[Stitchfans]

I'll never understand how or why people do this to their pets. I've adopted many strays in my lifetime. It is kind of a joke with our family. My mom was the same way so friends and family would always bet which one of us would have the most pets in their home.

then I teased her telling her I won cause I volunteered for our local animal shelter for a few years taking care of the animals each weekend. it was behind the police station. sad to say they eventually closed it down.

 

[Thumper's Tara]

It gets me as well! I have done rabbit rescue for years and it is the same thing with rabbits. People think that they will "go wild" if they dump them outside somewhere. Uh, no. All these people are doing are sentensing these poor bunnies to a horrible death - either by starving, exposure or being attacked by a preditor.

It breaks my heart when me people do things like this. I used to say that pets forever and you don't see people getting rid of kids when they tire of them. Well, this thread taught me that people dump kids when they get bored too. It is heartbreaking.

 

[Chicago526]

I can't figure it out either. I understand that life changes and sometimes giving up a pet isn't a choice, it has to be done. But to just dump them out in the country is beyond cruel. There are ways to get your pet a new home, if you're willing to work at it a little.

I adopted my dog Missy from a woman that couldn't keep her anymore, but it broke her heart to have to give Missy away (she truely had no choice, she lost her home and had to move into a 1 bedroom apartment with her SO and 5 year old son, plus another dog that she was keeping, there just wasn't room for Missy). She looked for months for someone that could take her, a mutial friend asked me if I was still interested in getting a dog (I'd been thinking about it for awhile) and hooked us up. Missy is very happy with DH and I, but she'll be happier in a few weeks when we finnaly get the yard fenced in, it's the first time she'll have a yard to run around free in since 2001 (she and I lived in a condo for 4 years before DH and I bought a house last fall). The fence is mostly for her, if we didn't have her, we'd still would have put up a fence, but not nearly so soon. Yup, $1500 on a fence for our dog!

 

[Chuck S]

So get this...we were able to catch the older poodle last night and it was picked up animal control. The younger one is currently asleep in our yard but is not approachable. We can get within a few feet of him but then he bolts. He has some skin lesions/infectoins and isn't in the best of health. Called animal control again, they have no nets, no tranquilizer darts, no way to capture an uncooperative animal. If it was deemed a dangerous animal they would shoot it. Morons.

 

[Dznypal]

my DIL sister work at the same company (both are graphic artists)

one day she asked my sister if she was hearing noises from the ceiling--

at first my sister thought she was nuts until she heard them too

they called maintance who gave them a hard time about hearing noises

he crawled up in the ceiling and manged to catch a beautiful calico kitten she was only a few months old

my DIL took it home she has a wonderful home with 2 other kitties to play with

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Dumping an animal is a horrible thing. If you can't take care of an animal, you need to find it a home or at least bring it to a shelter where it will be put to sleep in a humane way. "Dumped" animals suffer horribly of starvation (pets are not able to fend for themselves!)

When I lived out in the country, I picked up every "dumped" animal I could catch--DH had an absolute fit, but the animals just broke my heart. A lot of real rural people just shoot the animals, apparently--a co-worker told me her husband generally shot them to "put them out of their misery" and because "the pound isn't open during hours we can get there." Their property was totally overrun with dumped animals--they did adopt a few, but shot the rest.

 

[mickeymousemom]

What unspeakable cruelty, to dump them on a road! Yet, we found our first kitten, cold and dying, in the woods.

mickeymousemom, bless you for being so kind to those senior dogs and taking them in.

Thank you. That first dog we found on the highway was actually matted so bad and covered with leaves that he couldn't go to the bathroom and probably wouldn't have lived much longer. This area was also in a wooded area close to a State Park so who knows what kindof animal could've gotten ahold of him. And what a sweetie he was. Though we live in a tiny house with 3 kids, we're all suckers for a stray. We also have 3 cats. One was abandoned and the other was found as a kitten by my DD in an alley laying next to his dead mother. He was the only kitten there and covered in fleas. Now he's a loving, rotten scoundrel who likes to get on my kitchen counters!

BTW, I love your kitties!

 

[ZachnElli]

It was almost 12 years ago when Dh and I found a mom and her pup on a highway. That "pup" is at my feet right now! He's not doing so good lately, old age has really set in. His mom passed just this past Jan. She totally won over my mom and was a very spoiled little girl for almost 12 years. They both had been abused, then abandoned.

 

[Mskanga]

I have a dog and two cats. The dog ( a german shepperd ) we bought , one of the cats we adopted from the SPCA , and the other cat was a stray cat that kept coming to our door. He belonged to a litter that one of our neighbor's cats had, this neighbor has like 12 cats living in a garage , the mother is still there and we have the son.
What kills me is the people who have the animals but don't give a crap about them and let them run around lose and allow them to go on everyone's properties and do anything they want. It really annoys me that people cannot control their pets in their own homes and someone else has to clean up for them.