Throw Away Pets

[scott_vt]

Sorry Jim, I couldnt resist /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif And NO, Im not bashing Texas, I still think I have some friends down there /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

scotty

 

[JimR]

I have a few down there too.

 

[DrRod]

I was waiting for a bus in front of the Kennel at Disney World and a worker came out and asked if I wanted a dog. I sort of laughed and he shook his head and said "we get two or three dogs abandoned here a month." Apparently, people go there on vacation, put their dog in the kennel while staying there, and then leave without it. I suspect some of those are due to the owner getting sick or dying on the property but some are just people who decide its easier to just go home without them. Is there anything less Magic Kingdom than that? Amazing.

 

[RoyJackson]

This is such a sad thread...and what makes it worse is I'm guilty of this terrible thing! I feel so bad about doing it.

I'm not going into the details...too ashamed.

This was a while back...now, our dog is part of the family even when she passes gas while in bed with us! Of course, the wifey snores louder then the doggie!

Even after all this time, I still remember that little pooch...and I still feel guilty as all get out.

 

[Jstpssng]

Those of you who take in multiple strays deserve medals.

I have a lot to say about those people who abandon or abuse their pets, /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif but it's best if I keep those comments to myself.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

My wife and I have fostered somewhere around 250 dogs over the years. All house dogs, one, two or three at a time for various local and national organizations. It's a terrific experience and I recommend it. I'll second petfinder.com as a good place to look. You're local vet should also have a list of shelters in your area and possibly a list of pure-breed dog rescue organizations. We did English Setter rescue for a long time (as you might guess by my avatar).

Please don't buy a dog from a store and imagine that you are "rescuing" it. Perhaps you are, but they will make more to replace it. This is what we need to stop.

Also, don't imagine that only muts and problems are left at shelters or at the end of dirt roads. As Eddies example illustrates, that's just not true. Out of the 250 or so dogs we fostered, we only had a couple who we evaluated as a serious problem. One we kept and rehabed -- he's a lover now -- the other was eventually put down, but he had a tough life all around.

If you want a pure-breed dog, they are redily available. Puppies are also available if that's what you want, although I think old dogs are cool and if you want a puppy you may have to wait a while.

There is a hiden network of dog transporters -- which my wife worked on for some time -- who can ship dogs across the US by setting up travel legs, and getting help from truckers etc. Very cool organization.

Anyway, the point is, the dog you want is already alive and well in a shelter somewhere. You just have to find him before his time is up.

Cliff

Old dogs are Cool!

 

[Inspector507]

We've got 3 pets living here, if you don't count my adult son /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Anyway all are rescues. The male cat was adopted from a cat shelter non-profit agency that will not euthanize an animal. They will live an old life there if never adopted. He was the last of a litter of 6. He was a vocal kitten. no wonder no one wanted him. He still is today. The female cat, totally black and full of pee and vinegar, was tossed out of a car window at maybe 3-4 weeks old. We were only going to keep her for the day to find someone to take her. She's been here 12 years so far. The dog is a mixed breed, Shepard and Golden, beautiful dog. We got him from a county dog pound at maybe 5 months old. I think he was abandoned because he got too big, and the fact he had a chewing problem. But cmon he's 5 months old. A little crate training and he's my best friend right now. I think he weighs in at 75-80 lbs now and 4 years old.
I'll take a rescue/abandoned one any day.

 

[Sigarms]

You hit it on the head so to speak on the crate training. There are so many people that don't realize that a dog can be trained, it just takes time and effort /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Jstpssng]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( crate training. There are so many people that don't realize that a dog can be trained, it just takes time and effort )</font>

some habits can't be broken, though. once she got some size on her, my lab would NEVER stay in a crate, even though she was just 8 weeks old when I started training her... it took me a long time to figure out she was just pushing the door 'til it gave. Once she got out all H*** would break loose. I gave up after she got onto my bureau and chewed up as disposable razor. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif


This same dog will sleep in the truck all day if I'm stuck in the office; she stayed home alone all week without a problem when she was 8 months old. She just doesn't like to be confined.

I guess it's true that pets take after their owners.

 

[AB4D]

This whole subject really irritates me, I really dislike people that are not responsible when it comes to pets. The wife and I moved to our present location about a year ago. A feral/stray cat showed up at our house and the wife decided to give him a meal. Now we have 15 feral/stray cats that show up for regular meals. They are a lot tamer now than when we first started feeding them, but you still can't pet them, except for one. My neighbor down the road told me that people come down here and drop off their unwanted cats. The problem here is that there are no vets in the county that particpate in a spay/neuter program. Greed is the name of the game, and you can't get a cat fixed for less than $190 for males and $220 for females, luckly we found a vet in the next county that would fix all the cats and give them shots for a reasonable fee. So after trapping all of the cats we finally got all of them fixed. There is a plus side to the ordeal, we did get one house cat out of the bunch, he used to run from us, but then he decided to come into the house one day, and he never left /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. It's hard to get used to having a cat again, the last one I had died 5 years ago from cancer after having him for 19 years, but this new guy is pretty cool.


Jim

 

[midlf]

I wish an outdoor cat would show up at our place. I would like to get a cat but we cannot let a cat in the house with the foster (well I think she's now permanent) Goffin's Cockatoo. I would not feel right about getting a cat and forcing it to live outside but would be very happy to feed a stray/semi feral cat that wished to hang around. AB4D I honor you for having your strays fixed. We have the neighbors cats passing through on their daily routes but no semi-permanant visitors. I guess on one hand we are lucky there is no "dumping" near us that I am aware of. If there was dog dumping our currently unused kennel would have an occupant.

 

[deerefan]

This is an old pic I posted a while ago. Notice the rust colored mutt in the pic at the bottom right. She loves fishing. I've had her chase fish after I cut them loose. We named her Foxy, but her full name is Foxy Box of Rocks only b/c she goes absolutely nuts when you call her that. She is also a darn good watchdog. Just showed up one day. Hope she never leaves. Wish I could say that about some people that show up at our house!

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Greed is the name of the game )</font>

Jim, I don't know much about veterinarians, their expenses, profits, etc., but I do know their rates sure do vary. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif When we lived down in the country, we had a very good veterinary clinic with 3 vets. Prices were reasonable and I think the people actually cared about the animals. I used them for a rabbit and a goat, as well as our dog. And I went with a neighbor to take cattle and a donkey to them.

And now we're back in town with a puppy. We took it to one local veterinary. The "nurse" took the puppy's temperature, looked in her ears, in an exam room, turned on a video sales pitch of all the great products they sell, and left the room. At the end of the video, the "doctor" came in, listened to the puppy's heartbeat with a stethoscope and recommended $125 worth of "prophylactic" treatments (we had given them a list of all the ones the kennel said had already been done). I saw no indication that he cared one bit for the puppy or had any interest in her, so I declined, and paid the $28.95 for the "exam". I also asked what he would charge for spaying when she's old enough and he said $199.

Now we supposedly got this puppy for about half price because she has a tiny hernia (in fact, we might not have even noticed it if the kennel owner hadn't told us about it and said their vet said she would grow out of it, but that it might be best not to breed her (which we have no intention of doing). The vet we were visiting said she probably would, OR that he could repair that when he spays her, "but that would be a separate procedure; just done at the same time." I didn't even ask how much that separate procedure would cost.

So I came home and called every veterinarian in the area and asked what they would charge to spay the pup when she's old enough; got prices of $193 to $244. Then one of our daughters and a friend told us about a veterinarian clinic on the other side of town that they've used and like, so I called them and they said $60 for spaying her. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif It's a big clinic with 3 doctors, they treat all kinds of animals, and in fact, one of them was recently listed in a magazine as one of the best horse doctors in the state. So I figured if they're any good, I'll drive 30 miles each way for the price difference.

Sure enough, I had a chance to find out. The puppy quickly developed a serious constipation problem and we took her to that clinic. Hmmm, a young doctor who played with her, acted like he actually cared about her, and said he'd just recently gotten one just like her for his fiance and it had the same problem. $25 for the office visit, $2.50 for an enema (a lot less than I'd charge for that /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif), and $7.25 for the laxative he sent home with her. And he said he'll just fix that little hernia when he spays her.

Yep, we'll be driving 30 miles across Dallas when we need a vet, both for price and for someone who acts as if he likes the animals. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[BobReeves]

Yep, we drive 25 miles to our vet and pass 2 or 3 on the way. Same deal, funny part is we live outside Tulsa in a small town and the local vet is like the one you first described so we drive into Tulsa. One would think it would be the other way around.

 

[EddieWalker]

Update.

Sam attacked Steph's son last night and we're having him tested for rabies. No idea what caused the attack since both Steph and I were right there when it happened. It was totally out of character and unprovoked.

Since he didn't continue the attack after I got him away and was back to being nice again the next morning, we are at a loss as to the cause of it.

Now we're waiting for the results from the tests.

As of right now, we wont take in another stray. We can never trust to leave the kids alone with one again.

Steph is heartbroken. She cried all last night and when she talked to her today, she started crying again.

Eddie

 

[riptides]

Wow. That is too bad.

Unfortunate with stray animals is you really don't know their history. Something really odd may set them off, if they have been a victim of abuse.

Trust is a hard thing to come by, with an animal.

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[slowrev]

Strays are sometimes bad choices for pets. After all they have been discarded by someone, how well could they have been treated ?
My dumb son and his wife took in a stray dalmation and the grandaughter still has a scar on her face from that dumb action.


Just my observation/opinion.
Ben

 

[getut]

Strays, newspaper dogs, or pound dogs are usually the only way I get one and so far I have always ended up with a great dog.

I can't get past the adoption thing where they want to come in to your home and look around and try to make you sign things like saying you'll only keep the dog inside or get the dog spayed or neutered, etc. etc etc.

 

[Sigarms]

Getting you animal spayed or neutered is the most humane to do. Why would you want the chance of having your pet contribute to an already out of control issue (unwanted puppies/pets)?

If you own one male dog who is not neutered and you let him roam freely, do the math on the amount of unwanted puppies your one dog can account for.

Better example is of "outdoor" cats.

There are some people who can't take care of themselves, and what I can't understand is why they want a pet.

Eddie, sorry to hear about what happened, believe me, I know what you and Steph must be going through. Just remind her that as sad as it was to have Sam taken away, you did the right thing.

 

[AB4D]

Hi Bird and Midlf,

Thanks for the thoughts. I was shocked when I started searching around for a vet who particpates in a Spay/Neuter program. When I moved to the country, I figured most things would be cheaper, but in the suburbs where I used to live, you can get most dogs/cats fixed for around $25-$35 vs. $200 plus. The vet I use now charges $52 for females and $42 for males, he seems to be very caring of the animals, and he gives cut rates to clients who have large cat colonies such as mine. I just feel lucky to have found someone who is devoted to their trade and not just chasing a dollar.

Jim