I can’t stand dealing with these assholes day in and day out. I volunteer about twenty hours a week at the local animal rescue league. It’s a no kill shelter so we get quite a bit of traffic and new animals coming in every day. I’ve been doing this for years now and the sheer crushing weight of the godawful way people treat their animals has me ready to give up on the human race.
Just a sample of the things I’ve heard in the past week. Mind you this is ONE week!
Women comes in with what was once a lovely Samoyed. She adopted from us a little over a year ago. Seemed ok at the time and she took home a 35 pound perfectly vibrant healthy animal. She comes back saying she just doesn’t have time for him anymore. He now weighs 70 pounds. I ask with as little hatred as possible “Has he been exercised recently?”. She answers in a pissed off tone, “I said I’ve been busy, but I walked him a few times LAST SUMMER!”
Constantly men come in - “Got any fightin’ dogs?” Yeah you stupid fuck - if I had a good dog I would’ve just sicced him on you!
Woman comes in wanting to adopt two dogs. Go through the standard questions with her. Get to “Have you ever owned dogs before” Yeah we’ve had two but we had em put down when our kid was born. (kid standing there looks about two) Me “Well what was wrong with them?” Her looking at ME like I was the idiot “They was fine - just didn’t have time for em with the baby.” Yeah why don’t I just open the kennel and you can put em down systematically as you breed.
Final and kicker. Woman drops off her beautiful three dogs explaining that she had to move and they wouldn’t take animals. Now I’m somewhat sympathetic to this excuse knowing that shit happens and it can be hard to find a place that accepts pets. She however, lived in Potomac MD, the wealthiest place I have ever seen. Comes out she is moving to a gated community of McMansions that doesn’t allow animals. Those dogs spend all day waiting for her to return. I hope her suburban dream is worth it.
What the fuck is wrong with these people? Over and over again I have to listen politely to this crap as if these people are being perfectly reasonable. One begins to wonder about the future of humanity when you spend time in a shelter.
What rips me is the limpet-brains who buy animals at pet stores on a whim. “Yeah, we were just walking by your shop on the way to Starbucks and saw the most goooorgeous little puppy in your window. Her coloring matches the upholstery in our car perfectly. Can we buy her, please? If she pisses on the seat or grows up we’ll just dump her at the pound.” There oughta be a five-day waiting period on animal purchases, with FBI background checks.
And don’t get me started on people not sterilizing their pets. “Oh, that’s not natural. It’s cruel to the animal. It’s fun to watch Sparky go out of her mind in heat while every male dog in the county is ripping up our front yard.” Shitheads.
As I’ve said before, I believe that what you do to animals in this life will be done to you in the next. Hope that makes you feel a little better, riley. BTW, thanks for doing a thankless job that needs to be done because of all the poopieheads out there that can’t be bothered to help end the problem of unwanted dogs and cats (and other animals too, of course). My humane society kitty and I both thank you.
I love the people who don’t have their animals spayed or neutered so they can show their children “the miracle of life”.
Hey, here’s an idea. How about taking them down to the pound or a kill shelter and showing them the miracle of death?
Or people like my neighbor, who, after their dogs get “too old”, take them to the pound. Howdy neighbor! You say you’ve had these animals as an alleged member of your family for 10 years, and then you just turn them in like old cars??? With no regard for the fear those animals have when you drop them off? Too bad, since those animals sat in a cage loyally waiting for you to come back for them. But you and all the others like you never do.
Guess what? When you get a pet, you take on a responsibility.
I’ve heard all the excuses that people give. Dog’s too old. Got a new baby. He pisses in the house ('cause you don’t let him out enough). Sheds too much. She went into heat and stained your carpet. Yeah. I’ve heard 'em all. Sleep well, you callous bastards.
(And in fairness, I certainly realize that there are unavoidable circumstances where people have no choice, but it’s usually not the case.)
I’ve often wondered why we can’t “sentence” these folks to a set amount of years where they CANNOT own a dog, or have one on their property.
Gave up your dog because you got tired of it?
Dog got picked up running loose and you don’t want to pay the fine?
A litter of puppies and/or kittens you can’t find homes for?
Take away their right to own pets!
If you drive drunk, no license to drive.
If you neglect your pets, no pets!
I have to admit that when I purchased Duchess, my sheperd/collie mix, it was kind of an impulse buy. My (then) wife and I were walking past the pet store, we stopped in to look, and the little mutt just insisted on coming home in my coat.
She’s caused me a few problems, like when my car died in Kentucky when I was on my way to Florida from Chicago and I had to sit in a parking lot for three days waiting for someone to come get me because the bus and train lines did not allow dogs on board.`Or when I spent months looking for an apartment that wsould accept dogs in Chicago.
However, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve always thought that when someone gets a pet, it is a lifetime committment. I personally can’t imagine giving up a dog or cat because “my new apartment doesn’t allow pets.” If that’s the case, get a different damn apartment!
Happily, my current SO loves my pooch, and her mom met Duchess before she met me, and her mom absolutely loves my pooch.
You ROCK, 2nd Law! Your Duchess has a great human.
People who ignore that bond disgrace themselves and abuse their companions. My dog and I are a pack of two. She gives unconditional love and she’s dependent on me. She’s a mix breed mutt I adopted when she was 6 weeks old and we’re inseparable. Period.
I can’t understand how people can abandon a pet and live with themselves. I hate boarding my dog during vacations. It’s a great place, run by her vets, and they spend a lot of time with the critters. But they aren’t HER human and it’s hard to reassure an animal that you’re coming back.
Right on, 2nd Law… you and me both! I committed to my dogs 19 years ago, and it has been a total pain in the ass that I simply would not have any other way.
When I got my Cockers, Sophie and Rufus, I promised them that I would love and care for them every single day of their lives, and all I wanted was for them to live a long damn time. We all kept our promises… Despite abject poverty, I never even considered giving them up to live somewhere cheaper or easier, not for an instant. And as my reward, they both stayed with me until they were nearly 17 years old. (And that last year or two was hard and messy, lemme tell ya…shit, piss, vomit, and major vet bills were the overriding themes. They are now the overriding themes of life with my 78 year old mother, too, but I won’t be dropping her off at the pound. Even though I’d sooner do it with her than them.) Now I have Maggie, the Super Amazing Wonder Dog and I would happily throw myself in front of a train for her.
Regarding the OP: the rage and sorrow I feel regarding these soulless, spineless scumbags and their innocent animals is beyond the pitiful ability of words to express. Thank you, Riley, for having far more strength than I do and being willing to see and deal with this outrageousness day after day. Those people are worthless scum. And I mean that with all my heart.
Thanks, riley dieffenbach, for the time you volunteer at the shelter.
I used to live in a rural area just across the county line from a decent sized city. When the city passed a leash law, a lot of people who couldn’t be bothered to put up a fence decided to dump their dogs. They couldn’t stand the thought of taking dear doggie to the pound, however, so they just drove across the county line and kicked their pooch out the car, so he could “live free” in the wild.
Of course, these domestic animals had no idea how to fend for themselves in the wild. They got run over by cars, starved, or ganged up with other dogs to create packs of wild dogs. Trust me, folks — it would’ve been kinder to take Rover to the pound and let him face the chance of being euthanized than to have him end up being shot by the constable because he was a danger to the people and livestock of our community.
You gotta move to someplace you can have 'em! That’s what I have always done.
As for where I live, those pictures were taken about 90 minutes north of where I live. (I live in the bright and toasty San Fernando Valley, aka Los Angeles County) We went up there that day just for Maggie, we treat her like most people treat their children, creating special outings just for her amusement and enrichment. We knew Miss Maggie would just love a day in the snow, so we went out and bought special clothes and everything just to take her. It was worth it, because she did love it. (I’m too lazy to create the links, but elsewhere on my site there are pix of Maggie by our pool and elsewhere, being beautiful and sweet - I swear I’m gonna blow the 20 grand when she dies and have her cloned. She is the best dog in the universe.)
And that is the beauty of living in LA… another day, we’ll take her down to the beach…california rocks, kids.
Sadly, some of the worst offenders in this area can be military families. We’ve seen it a million times. People get a pet at some duty station, but when they find out how much cost and hassle it is to move them, at best they give them to other families, and at worst just abandon them off-post somewhere. The base newspapers are full of “free to good home” ads for animals 2-4 years old, the average tour length. In Germany, the local pounds won’t even give animals to Americans because of their terrible reputation for abandoning pets.
We’ve had two of our current menagerie (3 cats, 1 dog), for 9 years and 3 trans-oceanic moves, and have spent an alarmingly large part of our meager income hauling them back and forth. But, as 2nd Law said, when we got these animals, it was a lifetime commitment, and they are a part of our family. We are teaching our children that pets are not disposable, and their lives matter to us.
As esteemable as volunteer work is, I think that No-kill pet shelters actually contribute to this problem. For one thing, there really is no such thing as a no kill shelter–any shelter that claims to be no kill either 1) is lying or 2) turns down animals, which are then taken to city pounds and almost inevitatably put down. There simply aren’t enough resources to keep up with the number of animals–in the summer, pounds put down hundreds of animals in a week.
What No-Kill shelters provide is a way for some one to abandon an animal with a clear conscience–all they have to do is write a $50 dollar check and they can tell themselves “I found Fluffy a good home” – never mind that the cost of that was sending another dog to the pound because the shelter only has X number of kennels.
Some counties have the local humane sociey manage the government pound–although not “no kill” they do their best to ensure that all animals are treated humanely. Perhaps if people had to acknowledge that the choice is between moving to the new house or killing the dog, they would be more willing to find a new home where they could keep thier dog. And perhaps people would be more hesitiant to adopt an animal if hte idea of a no-kill safety net wasn’t floating in the back of thier mind.
Our vet office takes in strays and finds homes for them.
There are also pet foster homes, like where we got Misty-the Tyger Ranch. There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of cats. It’s a HUGE farm with dogs and horses and volunteers and everything. This is Kitty Cat Heaven. The ONLY thing about Misty is that she wasn’t dewormed when we got her…and that’s it. Noel came from a small cat foster home of a woman who would take in cats that no one wants.
I will say though, sometimes, considering how old a pet is, and if you have to move…well, sometimes, you have to give them up. A friend at Customers Suck had to go through that.
She was moving to England, and her cats just could not handle the move. So she found homes for them with friends. Sometimes, you do have to give a pet up…if you can’t take care of it. But make sure you find a GOOD HOME. They ARE out there.
A lot of what people are doing is going out, trapping strays, and spaying or neutering them. A GREAT idea. Also, there are times when animals must be put down-feline leukemia is one-it’s highly contagious, not currable, and always fatal.
People can mistreat animals without any repercussions, far too easily. My mother did volunteer work at a local humane society for some time, and rescued one poor animal from it. Why was the little dog brought in? Because she’d bitten the heck out of the owner’s leg. Why did she do that? Because he had a habit of kicking her. Her left foreleg was dangling and useless because a kick had essentially destroyed her shoulder–after adoption, a vet had to amputate it because there was simply no way it was ever going to be a functional limb for her. (We named her Grendel, on account of the arm coming off.)
As I was given to understand, my mom adopting her was technically a bending of rules–animals turned in because they bit someone are supposed to be destroyed. We all thought it was a shame Grendel could only use her teeth and not a gun on the bastard.
She was the sweetest little dog you ever saw. Initially completely frightened of men in general (due to aforementioned abusive fuckwit), and it was a joy to see her slowly heal of that at least to myself and father. Died too soon thereafter, rare complications from spaying. The really tragic thing is, abusive waste of human breath is likely still alive.
Actually, my friend had a dog that they rescued from an abusive family. They slowly retrained him, and the dog was great. He never jumped, although he freaked out a couple of times if he saw a fly swatter or a gun.
Unfortunately, her dad was a drunken asshole. One night, he hit her mother during a fight, and the dog naturally attacked him. He took the dog out back and shot him. I was so disgusted when she told me that.
I agree with you there for the most part. Our shelter has contacts with rescue groups for hundreds of miles around so we can usually place the extra animals with those groups. The difference is really in the people who open their homes to foster animals for periods ranging from a couple of weeks to six months. With foster care the shelter capacity is greatly expanded.
This though is unfortunately the exception. There are also some animals that have been so psychologically damaged by abuse that they are essentially unadoptable. Keeping them in cages for years hoping for a saintly soul to take them in is, IMHO of course, a waste of resources. I am no raving PETA member and love my steaks so I don’t subscribe to the save at all costs philosophy.
BTW the latest human dungheap was today. Woman who adopted two days before comes back in with one of my favorite dogs, a gentle little shepherd mix. She says she has to return him because he didn’t get along with her cat. Now I’m thinking - Oh shit I feel bad he must have bit or gone after the cat with a vengeance - Turns out that her cat hid under the bed and wouldn’t come out while the dog was around. I mean come on people did you expect them to take off for Disneyworld and take a spin on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride together. Turns out this is the second time she’s taken an animal home and come back within 48 hours. Both times because the cat hid. I’m sorry lady but its a cat. Give him a week at least. Sheesh!
My cat Schmabe hid in the garage for about 3 weeks after Maggie came. We gave him food and water…and he’d sneak out in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Eventually, he decided that he’d had enough of this bullshit and came inside, and now doesn’t even blink when Maggie enters the room.
Oh yeah, these animal care jobs are just the best, aren’t they? As an emergency vet tech, I have seen it all. The level of abuse and neglect I see on a nightly basis no longer surprises me, but I do still become infuriated.
Just tonight we had a mother and daughter bring in their dog for collapse. It was actually already dead by the time they got it to us. The dog was emaciated, fithly, matted, and covered in adult flies and maggots in various stages of development. And when I say covered, I mean covered. We gloved up and shoved the dog into a cadaver bag as fast as we could because we couldn’t allow all those flies to get loose in the hospital. But the dog had only been having diarrhea for two days, the owners insisted.
We also saw a pit bull puppy recently that had been torn up in a fight. Brought in by two men who admitted to us that the only reason they brought the dog in to see us was because the jaw was broken. Broken to the point that the mouth was just hanging wide open, completely useless. The men told us that they normally just sew up the dogs themselves, but they wanted us to fix the jaw. When we told them how much it would be, they took the puppy out of the hospital without treatment.
We put parvo puppies down on a routine basis. Puppies that could do very well with supportive care, but owners that are too ignorant to get vaccines are even less likely to pay for two days of hospitalization.
And tonight animal serivces came in with two little kittens that had been abandoned. The kittens are too young to eat on their own, and the shelters in my area will not bottle feed babies. I was supposed to put them to sleep but I oculdn’t do it. So now they are here in my home, and I will foster them until I can find them homes.
