I'm doing bad things

The BBQ Pit
1

I’ve intermittently seen a strange dog on the property. I think it was abandoned. It’s a Shih-Tzu or a poodle, a lap type dog.

It’s been skulking because my dogs will chase it off if they see it.

I found it in the poll barn. It was very dirty, and growled at me as I approached it. Ten minutes of coaxing couldn’t get a reaction from it that let me approach with comfort. It had no collar. It smelled badly of rotting flesh.

I went up to the house, got my .22 Hornet, and shot it twice, once in the head (which did the job,) and again in the chest to be sure.

One of its legs was badly messed up, and that was the source of the smell. I loaded it up in the truck, dug a hole, put it in and poured some gasoline on top of it. I was told that the smell of the gasoline will prevent other animals from digging it up and spreading diseases.

I felt bad about this.
I also had to fire somebody this week. They were expecting it, and went fine, but I didn’t like doing it.

I also had to deal harshly with some relatives who were seeking to get control of my granparent’s money (they’re non compus mentas.) My reaction wasn’t diplomatic and I’ve created some bad feelings.

The kid who I suspect has been tresspassing and stranded my boat in the pond heard our property was for sale, and came galloping down our driveway Saturday Afternoon, and started looking around.

When I asked him what he was doing he said he was interested in the property. I’ve had it up to here with this Amish kid, and I made the conscious and reasoned decision to flip my lid, and go off on him, which I did.

2

. . . and?
Do you feel a need to be flamed? Or want to purge your guilt? Are you desiring to be beaten?

If you’re feeling guilty, Scylla, the best bet is to examine those feelings and either resolve them or take steps to not engage in the same guilt-inducing actions.

Unless you’re stepping out of your usual character and are bragging about doing “bad” things. I find that unlikely.

3

Why didn’t you call Animal Control about the dog? Is that not an option where you live?

About the other stuff, it always seems to go in streaks. Hopefully you are now done for a while.

4

andros:

No. I don’t feel guilty, nor am I bragging.

It just seems that I’ve been needing to do a lot of negative or confrontational things lately instead of constructive ones.

There’s usually several solutions to a problem and a chain of negative outcomes makes me wonder if I’m somehow selecting them and missing the positive solution.

Hopefully that’s not the case, but I still feel bad about doing things I don’t like doing, so I thought I’d come and bitch about it.

Why do you ask? You know a good dominatrix?

5

Dog thing - good.
Firing thing - okay.
Relatives thing - could have been handled better. Live and learn.
Amish kid - ??? Sometimes a little lid-flipping goes a long way. Sometimes it’s completely inappropriate. You’d be the best judge of that.

6

Firing someone is never nice, and being undiplomatic with family and a kid who’s been bothering you is part and parcel of being an imperfect human being. But…

You’re right - this WAS mean. You just killed it? I’m not a dog person at all, but that was a shitty thing to do considering that there were other options available.

Like andros, I’m wondering why you felt the need to tell us about these things.

7

If the dog smelled badly of rotting flesh, I doubt a vet could have done much to save it anyway. At least this way it was out of pain quickly.

8

Francesca, if Scylla had been able to get the dog to a vet without injuring himself or causing the dog a huge amount of pain and fear, the vet undoubtably would have put the dog down with an injection. That smell Scylla described was probably advanced gangrene, which doesn’t get cured.

Shooting the dog was quick, painless, and merciful. If you can’t wrap your head around that, then fuck the hell off.

9

Not cool.

10

Goodness, phouka. Having pit withdrawal?

11

Not cool to jump on Francesca like that.

12

Okay, it’s the Pit, but still…

{{{{Scylla}}}}

As a dog owner, I think you absolutely did the right thing, especially taking care of the body so that nothing would dig it up and contract whatever problem the critter had. We don’t have Animal Control where we are, and Mr. Bobkitty has routinely had to shoot feral, likely rabid, cats to keep them away from our animals. He hated doing it, but in the end it was a good thing. You did what you had to to protect you and yours… no matter how much it hurts to do it, it takes a strong man to act when needed.

The firing… well, that’s the hazard of being in a management-type situation. It sucks, but I have no doubt that you handled it diplomatically. If it was an amicable parting, you done good.

Ahhh… families. Somehow families turn into sharks whenever the scent of money comes into play. You may not have been at your best moment there, but I have to give you kudos for looking out for the important people in this situation. Shame on the rest of them.

I don’t know enough about the last situation, but if he’s been doing what you claim, then I say go off! Heck, traipse out there with your .22 and yell to your heart’s content. That’s the beauty of owning private property.

I realize you’re just venting, but I wanted to throw MHO in there and let you know that I don’t think you’re a bad person. Although if you require the services of a dominatrix, feel free to let me know. :wink:

-BK

13

You, my friend, are not having a good week. Reading back over your thread two things struck me.

One, tough situations seem to be searching you out. Doesn’t look like you went out of your way to have these difficulties introduced into your day-to-day.

Two, after thinking about it I can’t honestly swear I’d have acted that differently. Maybe, but I wasn’t there and wasn’t confronted with the hopelessness of the dog’s condition or the attitude or rights of the relatives. The firing thing? If they were expecting it then I’d guess you acted reasonably. And the kid thing? A lack of electricity doesn’t excuse bad manners or illegal activities. Little twerp needed to be reminded that what’s yours is yours.

Sounds like you’re trying to be considerate and do the right thing. Maybe it’s when we’re so all fired sure our response was the only one appropriate that we really need to start to worry. I honestly hope things get better for you, you seem like a pretty stable guy.

14

Erm, it’s also not cool to lambast Scylla for doing something that he obviously feels bad about, but was the right thing to do either, now is it?

15

The dog. :frowning:

Not so much that you killed it, but that it was miserable and suffering for so long before, and died miserable and suffering.

:frowning:

16

Jesus phouka, that was a bit harsh. He said it was mean, I agreed with him. The dog may well have been in pain and died anyway but wouldn’t it have been nicer to get it checked out first, using dog control or the available equivalent? Then, when it was confirmed by a vet that he was beyond the point of help, he would have been put to death in an equally quick, painless and merciful way.

17

pant wheeze

Okay.

Sorry.

Pit withdrawal. Caffeine withdrawl. Mid-quarter grades for rabid 8th graders who want to know why they’re failing when they’ve turned in almost a third of their homework. A little too much empathy for the situation Scylla described (I would shoot the dog too, then cry my eyes out).

Francesca, sorry I jumped on you like that. I think you’re wrong, but you didn’t deserve the crude, rude remark.

18

I’m sorry for Scylla’s bad week, and I really really love him, but my God, he posted these things in the pit after all, and if we don’t agree, like Francesca obviously doesn’t, we should be able to say it. If he wanted to be hugged, he should have posted in MPSIMS.

jarbaby

19

Cool beans, agree to disagree. [smilie]

20

From the sound of it, no, not at all. The dog was obviously very traumatized already, in great pain, terrified and miserable. Your solution would be to extend the misery, pain and fear a little longer to assuage your own issues with death.