Friday, September 14, 2007

Not a Dog's Life

(She looks like this) (Not counting gender)

So today I was headed out around the Little Lakes, looking forward to a long walk and a couple of hours of absolute quiet, when I heard the most terrible yelping up ahead. I hoped that it could be attributed to a dog or two whose owners had stopped to talk and created a minor civil war, but within a few minutes a woman approached me, gestured backward, and asked hopefully whether I had tied my dog to a tree and left it there temporarily. I guess I look like a total idiot, but whatever.

So we went on a few steps to the spot where she had encountered a perfectly beautiful beagle/lab ~ a healthy, well-fed dog tied to a tree, who had started to cry piteously when she walked by. We talked for a few moments about whether someone might have actually left the dog there while she finished a run or, I don't know, jumped into the lake (no, no one does that, but I guess optimism is not a bad thing). I said that I would be back around in an hour or so and, if the dog were still there, I'd pick her up.

We walked on and a second woman approached us and said, "Please tell me there isn't a beagle/lab mix back there tied up and abandoned." We backtracked and she said a sad, "Yep." She had seen a well-dressed (heels, manicure, make-up, definitely not one of the three of us) woman get out of her car with the dog, disappear into the woods, reappear sans dog, get into her car, and drive away.

The second woman was accompanied by her own dog, whom she had acquired in just this way, and she was willing to consider taking our new friend, if her own dog, abused in his past life and still leery after many years with her, responded in a positive manner. We tried walking the two dogs together and things were looking up, but the newly homeless pup struggled mightily when we tried to put her into the woman's hatchback, and leaped out immediately. ("She'd probably been locked in a trunk," said my daughter later, when I called for commiseration from Oregon.

So the dog and I ended up making a little trip to the police station (she was willing to get into the back seat of my car), the repository for dogs abandoned on the week-end. She was strong and apparently recently pregnant ~ no doubt yet another "cute puppy" who grew up and needed to be trained to a leash and spayed and otherwise actually cared for by people who did not know how or want to learn to take responsibility for her as she grew to adulthood.

I am SICK of this. Just sick of it. She is the third dog I have encountered this summer who needed to be "rescued." (And that doesn't count the kitten I found in the cemetery, whose plight engaged five or six people before he was settled.) I could go on and on and on, but I will just say that this beautiful little dog represents the foundation of what is practically a religious doctrine in this house with respect to where one should acquire a pet (a pound or a shelter) and what one should do with said pet the next morning (put a complete end to its reproductive capacity).

Well, that's my soapbox for the week-end. I know that my friends all provide good homes for their pets, and that many of them prefer reputable breeders to the streets as sources for same. (The Lovely Daughter, the expert in the house, states unequivocally that the frequently-made argument that well-bred animals are more predictable in behavior is utterly without foundation.) I just know that I have spent the afternoon delivering a beautiful dog to her doom, and I try to believe that the Lovely Daughter's volunteer work at Friends for Felines compensates in some small way.

11 comments:

Lori said...

I read stories like these and my heart travels to my throat every single time. OMG. These ***hats that abandon these precious animals are going to have to answer to this some time, some way.

You must just feel awful about this poor dogs' likely future after being with it personally.

Golly I hate that this happens.

Terri said...

On the other hand, at least that poor dog is no longer abandoned and tied to some tree where it would suffer for who knows how long. true, it may have a short life, but at least it won't suffer. And maybe someone will take the sweet thing home...

I JUST CANNOT BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE HAVE THE AUDACITY TO ABANDON ANOTHER LIVING CREATURE...

I mean, do they think these sweet little one's have no feelings? Yeesh. I've raised six cats and three dogs over the last 22 years. I know they have feelings and that animals bond deeply with their "pack" - us - their humans...

oh gosh. I'm sorry GG that you been the one to care and do what needs to be done...it's hard on you too...

Gannet Girl said...

I know, MP -- I took her in because I did not want her to spend the night hungry and sad in the rain, not even able to find shelter, and probably getting hit by a car if she did manage to chew through her leash and get away.

Virginia said...

There is just no shortage of stories like these. Ask anyone that has worked/volunteered in animal rescue. On and on and on the stupidity and cruelty of humanity goes.

Thanks for working to balance it out on the side of right.

That the lady (of means $$) could simply dump an animal . . . what kind of person has complete and utter lack of compassion or sense of deceny and morality. (Don't answer that.)

Peace, Virginia

Law+Gospel said...

These stories make me angry and glad. Angry that people abandon a living creature who has come to love and depend upon them. Glad that there are others who will save these. Although sadly not enough. We have had two dogs, both of whom were rescued. Our first, was found abandoned on Christmas Eve. We adopted her on her " last day" at the shelter. Our second was not abandoned, but was provided with no indoor or protected shelter for 4 years. His first humans were prosecuted for animal cruelty. One could only hope that these stories would cease, but at least if they will not, let us hope there are people who will step in.

Jody Harrington said...

What an irresponsible and cruel thing to do.
*sigh*

Lisa :-] said...

This is a new thing... I've never heard of folks taking a dog to a semi-urban park and abandoning it.
Out here in the sticks, they just drive as far out on a side road as they can and dump the poor thing. I know so many folks who live in the outskirts who constantly have to deal with "dumped" animals.

What is wrong with humans that we have so little respect for non-human beings?

Diane M. Roth said...

like lisa, I had never heard of something like this. Although of course, a lot of animals are abandoned, abused and neglected. it makes me sick.

I'm glad this one found some hope.

Diane M. Roth said...

like lisa, I had never heard of something like this. Although of course, a lot of animals are abandoned, abused and neglected. it makes me sick.

I'm glad this one found some hope.

Anonymous said...

It does seem odd that the woman tied the dog up. Maybe she meant to come back for it? Perhaps I am being naive.

Gannet Girl said...

Sadly, yes, naive.

The woman with the other dog told me that where she works people frequently refer to having tired of their dogs and having left them in a park "for someone else." And she works at Gigantic Famous Hospital Whose Name You Would Recognize.