I'm moving soon and am thinking of taking my neighbor's dog with me.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

About six weeks ago the resident of the house across the parking lot from my apartment acquired a beautiful, playful, friendly shepherd/husky (I think) mix.
The back part of the yard is surrounded by a 6’ chain link fence, but it doesn’t completely surround the yard. For the first couple of weeks the owner had the dog on a run - you know, a long line running horizontally across the yard and a chain attached to the line. The dog received both excercise and company, because nearly everyone in the building took the time to talk and pet (as well as one can pet a dog through chain link) him.

Then, for some reason, the dog’s owner took him off the run and attached one end of the 10’ chain to the corner of the shed in the back yard, away from us apartment dwellers. The dog has shelter, food, and water … and is almost completely ignored.

I have never seen the owner spend more than 15 minutes at a time with the dog, and I have never seen the dog off the chain. Most of the contacts the owner has with the dog consist of the owner disciplining the dog for doing what dogs do when they’re ignored 23 1/2 hours out of 24 - jumping, barking, whining, ‘acting up’.

I really really want to take him with me when I move. :mad:

2

Know what? I’d take him.

It’s stealing, yes, but it’s a good kind of stealing. The poor thing is ignored all day, no one to play with, no one to love…you’d be doing him a favor.

Rose

3

I normaly don’t like stealing,
but in this case,
I really wish someone took that dog
and gave him/her the love he/she should have.

4

chique, bless you…take the poor dog!

I’m a bit of a dog advocate & have done foster/rescue for years. I “stole” two horribly neglected puppies from some Bad People in my neighborhood. Rottie & Pitbull pups kept in a dark shed 24/7. By the time I stole them, their puppy collars were so tight that the Rottie had big welts & was coughing constantly & we had to cut the collar off with a razor. The dogs were going to slowly strangle to death…just sickening. A friend & I stole a pregnant GSDx from a yard once…she had 9 puppies in a foster home. She’s been on a 6’ chain with a little muddy circle of earth & a dirty dog house, poor thing. :frowning:

I think people who tie dogs up on chains & ignore them should be neutered.

5

Take the dog.

It may be stealing, but it’s less of a crime than leaving the dog like that.

6

Chique-
Go for it. You would be doing absolutely nothing wrong, in that you’re not causing pain to anyone. The dog will be happier because it will have a loving home, and obviously the owners aren’t too attached to the animal.

7

I would love to agree with everyone and say take it, but it is stealing, and you should be prepared to deal with the consequences of breaking the law if you go ahead and take the dog. That said, go for it. Give the pooch a good home and hope you don’t get caught.

8

it ain’t “stealing” - it’s liberation!

Of course, there’s a good chance that the current owner would go out and get another dog’s heart to break, so do this: send an untracable note (from a different town, get someone else to write it, whatever) explaining, sorta nicely, why you did what you did. That dogs are not “things”, they are intelligent beings that require stimulation and affection in order to thrive, and that this person will continue to have difficult dogs if they insist on treating the dog this way.

He needs to understand his error if there’s any chance of keeping him from repeating it.

stoid

9

I too rescued a dog from horrible owners recently. My poor Snickers was kept in the garage of my neighbors house and was completely ignored as well as abused. That is until the house caught on fire. The poor dog was trapped in the house while it went up in flames because he was so scared of the owner that he wouldn’t come when he called him. the firefighters were able to get him out safely but scared to death. The owner then left him in the condemned house for a week without hardly letting him out. The owner of the house (the renters owned the dog) came by one day to let him out and when he wouldn’t listen to him to come back inside, he left him out there. My other neighbor and my mom took him into our garage till we could decide what to do with him. He and I fell in love immediately. He wouldn’t come near anyone but me and boy did he love me.

My mom decided to let me keep him and he is now the best dog I could ask for. Besides the occassional chewing of curtains and things and the fights with my big dog who was already there, he is wonderful. He is the meaning of unconditional love. Although he is still scared of people, he gets better everyday. The neighbor still lives there and doesn’t even ask about him.

Before you “steal” this dog from your neighbors though, make sure to consider the commitment that comes along with owning a dog, which I am sure you already have. I hope all goes well and that you gain a wonderful friend for life.

10

I advocate taking the dog. If you don’t, someone may eventually call animal control, and the dog could wind up in a pound… shudder

[sub]Would it really be stealing if the dog’s chain were to “break” during the night, and you simply took the poor little “stray” along with you?[/sub]

11

Justifiable theft. Go for it.

12

I’m all for stealing. Just out of curiosity, have you asked the dogs owner if he even wants the dog? The neighbor might just give you the dog. You never know. 'Course make sure its SOMEONE ELSE who does the asking. If the answer is no, theft is really the most appropriate action.

Shay

13

I have a husky collie mix, and the behavior you describe fits my dog perfectly and he is very well cared for. Keep in mind this is a young dog yet, huskies take a long time to mature.

If anyone took my dog, I’d die from a broken heart I’m sure.

He may have moved the dog from where you could all have access to him because people were feeding him. I’m moving house in one week and it will be great to get my dog away from where every passerby can feed him. He loves to interact with them, he has thousands of friends I’m sure. But I’m still glad I will be able to stop that feeding.

Additionally, how do you know what’s going on in the owners life? Perhaps his whole family has just been wiped out by some freak accident, perhaps he’s busy making arrangements to bury his mother, perhaps he’s at the bedside of his dying child. There were times after my mother-in-laws stroke that my dog was left in the yard for long stretches of time. I had my neighbours watching over him, but I didn’t leave a sign so passerbys would know that.

My point is this, since when is it okay for your neighbour to decide whether or not you are worthy of your pets?

Sorry to be the dissenting voice.

Would you all be cool with someone ‘liberating’ one of your pets because they didn’t see eye to eye with you on the care they received? I thought not.

14

Yes, as a matter of fact.

However, any dog in my household is trained & socialized enough that they never have to be ignored in the back yard for any reason whatsoever. I’ve lost a parent, had major surgery, and gotten very busy. Do my dogs warrant the same care as a human baby? Not really. Are they ignored just because my life gets complicated? Not at all.

Where is your dog; and where are you, that your dog has “thousands of friends” who feed him? I have two dogs, plus a revolving door of rescue dogs. They have access to my back yard & my house (because I TRAIN them) with no problems, and not one single person feeds them except me.

15

Take the dog.

It’s theft, but it’s right. Just don’t get caught, 'cause the cops won’t buy that excuse.

No one could liberate one of my dogs without beating me (or my partner) up or breaking into our house. They are in the house, we are outdoors with them, or they are at supervised play. They are watched when there is any chance of contact with the public because of where we live - it’s very high volume, it’s near a school, and it’s in a very lawsuit-prone area of the country. I do not want to risk any poisonings, kidnappings, tormenting episodes, all of which can happen when dogs are left outside most or all of the time. I also don’t want to take any chance that someone will deliberately or accidentally let one of them loose. Also, dogs, especially highly social ones, get neurotic and weird when they’re alone too much with too little to do, and I don’t want that to happen, either. And finally, we do not want to risk problems with our house insurance or other people’s lawsuits - the dogs cannot be accused of biting or threatening or nuisance barking if there’s no opportunity for them to do those things. Where we live, it’s all too likely that one or more of these things will happen.

Dogs are not human children, but they also aren’t inanimate objects or toys; they can be owned, but that doesn’t mean they should be treated like property. They need love, lots of care, lots of training, lots of socialization. When we got our two dogs, we did it knowing what it would entail, and when we get busy or hurt or sick, we make sure our dogs’ needs are still met - even when we can’t be the ones to do it. (And it has happened. We are definitely not perfect dog owners.)

Chique is telling us this dog is outside all the time, the dog is chained up, the dog is a social animal of a social breed and is isolated from its pack, and the dog is bored and miserable. This dog is at risk of being hurt by evil strangers with poisoned meat or pointed sticks, at risk of being teased by schoolchildren who don’t understand how to deal with dogs (but who could be taught if a responsible adult was present), at risk of getting free and getting run over, at risk of developing all kinds of bad habits and problems. There are solutions to bad behaviors and to short-term time crunches - not to mention to simple puppy antics - that do not involved chaining the dog outdoors alone.

Hence I say - take the dog. You’ll have my thanks, Chique. I do dog rescue, and I hate to see things like this; I know all too well what can and probably will happen down the line.

16

Stoid - I like the note idea :slight_smile:

mfield31 - Yes, I’ve had dogs most of my life and know how to take care of them.

elbows -

I’d buy this … except he spends more time with his four-wheeler than he does with the dog. That being said, thanks for the dissenting voice.

[/quote]

I wouldn’t have guessed there were so many theives on the boards :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m still debating what to do. A friend mentioned I should maybe leave a note on the owner’s door asking him to take better care of the dog, but how, exactly, does one go about telling someone he’s a piss-poor dog owner?

17

I think the question you have to ask yourself is "would this dog be better off dead?

See, millions and millions of dogs are killed every year in this country due to lack of resources to support them. If you have the resources to support this dog, you could go adopt a dog that is about to be put down. Assuming that all dog’s lives carry the same worth, the only justification for stealing this dog is if you feel that ending the situation he is in prevents a greater evil than preventing the death of another dog. That may well be true: I don’t think much of no kill shelters that keep unadoptable (vicious) dogs in little cages for years and years and boast of their moral superiority.

18

I don’t think you have to tell him he’s a piss-poor dog owner, just spin it the other way. That way you’re almost telling the truth. Tell him you were planning on getting a dog when you moved, but you’ve become kinda attached to his dog. Tell him you’ve notice that the dog is alone a lot and ask him if he really wants the dog. You might be surprised. The only problem with this scheme is that if the knucklehead says ‘no’ you and the dog are screwed.
Have a friend do the asking and if the neighbor is amenable, you get the dog. If the guy is shithead, you can still steal the dog without giving yourself away.

19

Well, I won’t tell you what you should do, chique, but if you do decide to take the dog, I would be more than happy to send the note that Stoid mentioned, postmarked from here in Montpelier, VT.

K.

20

You owe it to the dog to take it with you and love it.

Unless the dog figures significantly in the life of a young child, in which case, you have to leave the dog alone. I speak from some experience on this.