I’ve been through some major life changes in the last year or so, and because of them I’m stuck with a situation I never thought I would be in.
About a year ago my wife and I leased a house. Soon after we moved my parents in with us - my Dad has Alzheimers and myasthenia gravis, and my mother, who has seroius lung problems from a few decades of smoking, was having trouble taking care of him herself, and they were living in a tiny guest house on my sister’s land that was in the middle of nowhere and infested with mice. My parents came with two dogs - an app. 6 year old terrier mix named Gizmo and a 14 year old schnauzer named Sara. We had a screened in porch with a fenced in back yard, so it wasn’t a problem. My wife adopted a strange terrierish dog (looks like a cross between a chihuahuah and possibly a german shepherd) from the local pound a few weeks before my parents moved in. His name is Hector.
Several months ago I lost my job (I have since got a new one but I’m making app. 1/3 what I did) and a couple of months ago my wife left me, and my parents and myself were forced to find a cheaper place to live. We found an apartment that allowed pets (albeit with a large deposit), that had a fenced in patio that the dogs could spend most of their time on. Well, someone complained to the management about the dogs barking (they didn’t bark much except during the daytime when there were always kids playing right outside our patio), which I think was retaliation for when my mother scolded a kid for throwing rocks at our dogs. We were told that we couldn’t keep the dogs on the patio if they were going to bark, so my Mom has been keeping them in the apartment the last few days. This is not working out.
All of them but Hector are housetrained, and Hector will ask to go out but occasionally pees on stuff in the house. The main problem is allergies - I can’t be in the living room for more than an hour without my eyes watering and my nose running, I have to stay in my bedroom most of the time I’m off work, which I keep closed off from the dogs fairly well, but I’m at work 11 hours a day and my Dad keeps opening my bedroom door looking for a bathroom and tonight while I was at work Hector got in and pissed on my bed (luckily it’s just an inflatable one). My mother is also allergic, though less so - but I’m more concerned about her as she already has problems breathing (enough that she qualifies for a handicapped parking tag). Having three dogs in a small two-bedroom does not smell very good, either.
I will not take these dogs to a shelter - I know they have little chance of being adopted, and I don’t want them to spend the last days of their life in crowded, noisy, and dirty conditions before being suffocated in a gas chamber. The only alternative for me is to have them put to sleep, and I love animals and do not want to do this, I know if I do I will be crying every time I remember it for years to come. I can’t keep living like this, though, and I will put at least Hector to sleep if I can’t find a home for them (I’m afraid killing Gizmo or Sara might kill my Mom with sadness, she is very attached to them).
I don’t have many friends since I’ve become single again, but I’m already asking everybody I know if they know someone who could take a dog or three off my hands. These are not problem dogs, except maybe for Hector, though he is smart and trainable and if I had more free time I’m sure I could break him of his territorial pissings. Sara and Gizmo are both very sweet and loving dogs, both of them spent their whole lives indoors and pampered. Hector is very loving too, just very hyper. They all have their shots and have been to the vet in the last year (we spent over $2000 treating a foot injury Sara had last year). I love these dogs, and it tears me up that I can’t keep them.
So, if you live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and would like to help, or know someone around here who would like to save one of these dogs, email me at the address below. Hell, you don’t even have to live in the DFW area, if you live within 250 miles of here I would bring them to you - it’s cheaper than having them put to sleep and a lot easier on the heart.
Address:
deke_weasleteats@hotmail.com
I am sorry you have to be in such a tough situation, but I know it will work out ok in the end.