# At least 50 dogs abandoned in the Everglades since July **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202 "2011-10-19T23:12:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/1 "2011-10-19T23:12:48Z")
[S. Fla. Rescue Saving Dogs Dumped In The Everglades](http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/10/18/s-fla-rescue-saving-dogs-dumped-in-the-everglades/) [Facebook page for the rescue group](http://www.facebook.com/ABANDONEDDOGSEVERGLADES) I am really disgusted that so many people could be so irresponsible and cruel to their pets. If you can’t keep your pet, there are a lot of other ways to deal with it than to set the a housepet loose to be eaten by an alligator or some other nasty fate. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/2 "2011-10-19T23:29:24Z")
Every year, I take to the local humane society several dogs and several cats that have been dumped at my house. My neighbors shoot even more random dogs when they form packs and run their cattle. 50 dogs abandoned in the Everglades since July seems wildly low. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/3 "2011-10-20T15:59:56Z")
Every time I think there are some things just so dumb and so cruel that no one would ever do them, I’m proven wrong. Again. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/4 "2011-10-20T17:17:46Z")
I don’t get it. How does someone just abandon to the wild what was supposedly a loved family pet? I mean if you’re going to take the time to drive it out to the Everglades, why not just drive to a shelter? ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/5 "2011-10-20T17:43:03Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I don’t get it. How does someone just abandon to the wild what was supposedly a loved family pet? I mean if you’re going to take the time to drive it out to the Everglades, why not just drive to a shelter? Probably a misguided notion that by setting them free in the wild they will have a chance at learning to survive, versus being pent up in a cage for months or years before being euthanized. “At least they’ll have a fighting chance, and will live the way God intended them to instead of dying at the hand of Man.” After all, feral cats, dogs, and pigs have escaped on their own into the wild and survived to establish breeding populations; why not these dogs? They might even “meet up” with wild dogs and join the pack. Much nicer to imagine a dog you can’t or won’t keep any longer running free with some pack in the woods, than to realize the most likely outcome is starvation, mauling by gators or if they do come across a pack of wild dogs, getting torn apart by them… ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/6 "2011-10-20T19:17:20Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I don’t get it. How does someone just abandon to the wild what was supposedly a loved family pet? I mean if you’re going to take the time to drive it out to the Everglades, why not just drive to a shelter? Some people honestly don’t give a shit about their dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/7 "2011-10-20T20:22:39Z")
Look, the dogs won’t get eaten by alligators. The pythons will do them in waaay before the gators get to them. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/8 "2011-10-20T20:26:14Z")
I sunburning your dog! ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/9 "2011-10-21T01:11:58Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Probably a misguided notion that by setting them free in the wild they will have a chance at learning to survive, versus being pent up in a cage for months or years before being euthanized. “At least they’ll have a fighting chance, and will live the way God intended them to instead of dying at the hand of Man.” Of course, if that actually happened, we’d have a different problem. I wouldn’t want the ecosystem of the Everglades to be possibly destroyed by allowing a non-native species that might displace native species to become established there. Not that I expect people who would do something like this to even be capable of understanding why that would be a bad thing. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/10 "2011-10-21T01:15:46Z")
> [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](#): > > Every year, I take to the local humane society several dogs and several cats that have been dumped at my house. My neighbors shoot even more random dogs when they form packs and run their cattle. > > 50 dogs abandoned in the Everglades since July seems wildly low. Maybe there are more that the rescue group didn’t find in time. ☹ I have heard about people who live in the country having problems with city folks abandoning their unwanted pets out there. Apparently there are a lot of people who think this is acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/11 "2011-10-21T01:17:45Z")
> [@Wargamer](#): > > Look, the dogs won’t get eaten by alligators. > > The pythons will do them in waaay before the gators get to them. Hah. Yeah, the pythons are an example of how the Everglades doesn’t need any more non-native ‘wildlife’. Thanks a lot, all you idiot snake owners who decided it was better to destroy the ecosystem of the Everglades than post an ad on Craigslist to get rid of the snake! ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/12 "2011-10-21T02:36:17Z")
Had two small breed dogs dumped at a dog park today to fend for themselves brought to our clinic today. The dogs were microchipped so hopefully they will get the idiots that dumped the dogs. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-50-dogs-abandoned-in-the-everglades-since-july/600202/13 "2011-10-21T13:07:55Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Had two small breed dogs dumped at a dog park today to fend for themselves brought to our clinic today. The dogs were microchipped so hopefully they will get the idiots that dumped the dogs. 😕 … who pays to microchip dogs they don’t intend to keep??? And then forget they chipped them, when the whole purpose of those chips to get the dogs returned to you if found by themselves (abandoned or not)? Though I guess we’re talking about people who fit the very definition of “didn’t think this through / think ahead”… Or maybe they weren’t dumped. Perhaps the dog walker got taken to the hospital or something?