The Epitome of Stupid

After a long absence from blogging, I have returned. It's not like I can do much while feeding the baby, right? LOL

On to today's post.....the sheer ignorance of some pet owners. I swear, some people have no business having pets. I pity their children, if this is how they treat their pets.....

A family in my neighborhood has four dogs; a Pom, a Min-Pin, a Boxer and a Shar-pei. They keep all four tethered in the backyard, with little or no interaction. Sometimes the dogs have food and water. The poor things keep breaking loose and running around the neighborhood - poor babies are just starved for attention. The Shar-pei, in particular, loves my inlaws (who live next door) and my oldest daughter.

Earlier this week, they got the Boxer neutered - he's around 6, 7 months old - and when they bring him home, what do they do? Do they let him stay inside while recovering from the surgery? Do they set up a spot in the garage for him? Nope and nope - they put him right back outside on his chain and forget about him. They throw some food and water out there but never bother to check on the dogs 98% of the time - and a day or two ago, the boy was out there dousing the Shar-pei with ice cold water. The water is not necessarily a bad thing - but considering that by this point the Boxer was not feeling well (will explain that in a minute), it was probably not a good thing for him in particular.

Today, a neighbor was outside in her backyard talking to another neighbor when they looked over. One commented to the other that the Boxer did not look well at all, and they called Animal Control and the police. By the time AC and the PD showed up, the Boxer was DEAD. The owners were surprised to see the police on their doorstep - they claim they had no clue the dog was sick. Yeah, RIGHT.....I believe that one. Got any oceanfront property in Arizona to sell me next?

There is no way they could not have known the dog was not doing well - not if they would have checked on him once in a while. He was healthy one minute and DEAD the next? To hear them tell it, that's what happened - but I know better. Dogs do not hide their ailments the way cats do - if he was that sick, somebody would have noticed it for sure. Those people are just uncaring and clueless. AC took the body for necropsy - and hopefully they seized the other three dogs as well, for their own sakes. Those dogs deserve far better than to be left out in a backyard, with no human interaction, little food, little water and almost no shelter from the hot summer sun. I hope they find that the owners were at fault, at least of animal negligence and hopefully some cruelty charges thrown in for good measure - and they are banned from owning pets ever again. Even better, tie THEM in the backyard and ignore them for most of their lives - see how THEY like it.

If you can't handle your dogs, don't have them in the first place!!!

Sunday, 9/21/08

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My MIL lives a couple blocks away from us; well, if we walk to the end of our block, cross both streets (a t-intersection), pass the clubhouse, and cross the bridge, her house is right there. Her next door neighbor is, to put it mildly, a bunch of irresponsible idiots. They are nice, don't get me wrong.....but they are completely CLUELESS when it comes to being a responsible pet owner. They have a Pomeranian and a Min-Pin that they leave out all friggin' day on a tie-out, and at least twice a week the dogs either break free or are not tied in the first place (well clipped, it's one of those leash-type clips). Usually they stay within a few houses of their own then return home; but the past few times they have strayed a bit farther.

About a week and a half ago, those dang dogs showed up in my backyard, and drove Dakota nuts. Becca and I went out there and chased them all the way back to the clubhouse, where the Pom finally came to me and let me pick him up. The Min-Pin wanted nothing to do with us; but followed when we carried the Pom home. I hooked the Pom back up to his lead (nobody was home, gee BIG surprise there) and spent the next 45 minutes getting the Min-Pin to trust me enough to get him hooked back up. This was after he made several futile attempts to take off my daughter's face with his teeth. My MIL told me the next day that the owners didn't get home until several hours later - and this was just before dinnertime when we corralled the mutts.

Today, I come downstairs to find my new dog trying to get through the screen door - at the same two stupid little rat-dogs. They took off for home while we calmed the dog down; and I called my MIL to go next door and alert the neighbors. She called me back a few minutes later to tell me that she rang the bell and a partially-dressed woman answered, wrapped in a quilt (mind you, this was around NOON). She told her that one of her dogs had just gone into the backyard and that she hadn't seen the other (the Min-Pin, of course). The woman's reply? She told my MIL, "Okay, well we will get out there when we can, in a little while, to take care of them." WTH is that?? In a little while? When you can? OMG. If it were me, I would drop whatever it was that I was doing to make sure my dogs didn't get free again!!

Personally I am no longer going to try and protect these stupid, furry-rats-that-bark, from the dangers they face when running free. If they manage to escape the many large dogs that live around here, and don't get squished by a passing vehicle, the next time I see them I will grab either one or both (if the nasty little Min-Pin lets me, that is) and call Animal Control to come get them. I am four months pregnant, and I have taken the time to train my animals to obey me; not only that, I don't leave mine out there 99% of the time, and I play with them.....I am not about to run my butt all over the subdivision trying to catch THEIR dogs. Animal Control can deal wit hthem now.