Stray Animals

On the way home from running an errand on friday, I came across a dog in the middle of the road. I drove slowly up to the dog thinking it would run off the road. The dog never moved so I pulled off the road. My neighbor who was in the car with me went and checked on the dog. The dog flipped over on its back (all of this taking place in the middle of the road still) so my neighbor picked her up. The dog had no collar. We didn't want to leave the dog in the middle of the road since she clearly did not know what to do around cars so I took her home.

My neighbor and I posted found ads on Craigslist and the newspaper (generally free to post found ads) and she also put up found signs in the area where we picked up the dog. I called the local shelters and left descriptions of the dog in case someone was looking for her. We also contacted a nearby vet that said people can bring in lost animals for a free scan to see if the owner had a chip implanted.

To make a long story short, someone called and said that the dog belonged to his brother. My neighbor drove the dog back to its owner. She talked with him about his dog. The owner said that the dog often roamed the streets when he went out since she seemed to have a knack for getting out of fenced areas. My neighbor asked if the dog had been spayed since she was not kept indoors all the time. Of course he said no. The dog also likely has not had any vaccinations.

I think if someone is going to own a pet, they should make sure that the pet at a minimum has been spayed or neutered (especially if it is going to be roaming about) and has current vaccinations. When I called the local shelters to see if anyone had reported this particular dog missing, I found out that the area in which I live has no leash laws which means people don't bother putting collars or tags on their animals and the animals are free to roam about. My husband was riding his bike through a nearby neighborhood and he was bitten by a dog who of course was not on a leash. My husband located the owner and was able to determine that the dog was at least vaccinated.

Since I live outside city limits, apparently a lot of people also commonly dump unwanted animals in the country. I've seen lots of mangy-looking dogs that look like they have been out on their own for some time. It's very, very sad to me that people don't at least try to find their pets a new home or in the worst case scenario, take them to a shelter when they no longer want the pet.

So the bottom line is, if you are going to own a pet, please be responsible for that animal. It depends on you to take care of him/her. If you are no longer able to care for the animal or you just don't want it anymore, please don't just dump it out like it was trash. Be Responsible!