Let me preface this by saying that I’m not an animal person. I have no pets and want none.
I wanted to get to work today in time for a particular seminar, and I missed my bus. Whatever, I decided to walk: it’s a few miles, but it’s cold and heavily clouded – perfect walking weather for a fair-skinned, overweight woman with a tendency to overheat.
About halfway to work, I notice a dog off-leash - mildly irritating, but no biggie. I’ll give the owner the stinkeye. Hey, where is the owner? I’ve been following this dog for 4-5 blocks and I haven’t seen another human being. Sigh. The damn thing is loose.
So I call the dog, who comes reluctantly and with that guilty face and posture that says “busted”. But he responds to Come! and Sit!* and he’s docile, well fed and groomed, so he’s clearly someone’s pet. No collar. I get him sitting down and trapped between my knees and call the police. They blather on for a while, send animal control out to the wrong address, call me back, correct the address, blah, blah, blah. Finally, the (very nice) animal control guy finds me, and we load the dog, exchange some pleasantries, and I get back on my way to work.
Meanwhile, the clouds have passed and the sun has come out. I get to work hot, late, and sunburned, and as I go in I realize what I’ve always known but never thought about: the animal control pound is directly across the street from my job. I could have just hitched a ride.
Sigh.
*and has thus exhausted my entire repertoire of animal interactions.
I’m pretty sure the animal control guy would have given me a ride if I’d thought to ask. The general culture in this town is that people go way, way out of their way to be helpful. As a transplanted New Yorker, I find it a little weird, but fun.
Now I’m wondering if the dog got loose or was dumped. I suppose I could drop by animal control on my way in to work tomorrow and see if anyone has picked it up. On the other hand, if no one has, I’m not willing to adopt it myself, so I’ll just feel bad.
If you don’t want to adopt it, don’t ask. (Just MHO)
You did a good thing though. If it is someone’s pet (very likely) they will be SO HAPPY to find the dog safe and cared for. And if it was dumped, it has a good chance of being adopted, or (worst case scenario) it will be humanely put to sleep, which is worlds better than being hit by a car, or starving, or being attacked by wild animals, which is the death it would have gotten on the streets.
Not only will you get good karma, you might get a good rep around town. ‘Hey, who’s that?’ 'Oh, that’s mischievous. Don’t know much about mischievous, oh, except s/he saved a lost dog one time. Chorus: ‘Awwwwww!’
And, wow, they’re organized. I’m looking at their website, and they have every animal they’ve found, labeled with species, breed, color, site of pickup, date of pickup, and a picture.
I’m impressed. Is this normal for animal control offices?
I love that picture. It’s like that dog totally knows he got busted, like a teenager throwing a party but the parents come home early! He’s not too sure how long he’s grounded for, but he knows it’s going to be a while before he’ll be trusted on his own again…
mischievous I am sorry you got to work hot, late, and sunburned. You are a lovely person. Doing a kindness for a helpless animal when you do not really care for them gives you even more karma points imho.
Thanks for your kind words, everyone. I may not be much of a pet owner, but I work with lab mice extensively, and I have strong ethical standards about preventing animal suffering. I wasn’t just going to leave a dog to get run over.
Can’t hurt. I’m already disturbingly well-known around town, since I’m a purple-haired goth chick working at a military base, which makes me highly visible. Additionally, I started walking to work about two years ago, which is even weirder in this car-bound community, and which also makes me highly visible on the sidewalks. When I meet new people, they’ve already heard gossip about me.
Heh. Good on you! And you sound like someone I wouldn’t mind sharing a table at the coffee shop with.
Turns out there are a staggering number of people who remove their dogs’ collars inside the home. That was something my family didn’t do when I was growing up, because we figured the whole point of the collar and tags was in case the dog got out. I’m so glad to hear the doggie is home already.
