A while back, I witnessed a woman smacking her kid around in a parking lot and did nothing about it.
I saw abuse again this morning, only this time; I grew a pair and made a phone call.
I was driving to work, just leaving my neighborhood when I passed a dog on the street that hardly looked like a dog anymore. With a sever case of mange; he has virtually no hair on him aside from some sprouting here and there. He looks like a Chinese crested except clearly not healthy and bigger than Oliver. His testicles hang to his knees.
I drive around the block, debating calling Animal Care and Control. I think, they’ll just euthanize it. I'm not sure how I feel about being responsible for that happening. Puppy didn’t have a collar and I thought for sure he was a stray. I go back to where I found him and pull over. He is no longer on the street so I wander into the yard of a home under renovations. Not sure if anyone lives there, I find the dog towards the back kind of meandering through the junk.
A man comes running out from behind the house. “Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t sure if someone lived here or not.” I tell him, “Is that your dog?”
“Yeah” he confesses, as the dog walks over to us, “He’s really sick with a thyroid condition. He’s old too. I should really have him put down but I can’t bring myself to do it.”
I get a closer look at the dog. His stench is horrid. He is covered with growths and his skin is crusty and hard looking. He looks up at me. He has beautiful blue eyes. They are clearly infected.
“I haven’t cleaned his eyes yet this morning,” says the man.
“Yeah, he looks extremely sick,” I tell him, “What kind of dog is he?” I ask, even though I think I know.
“He’s a bearded collie”
I leave, get into my car, burst into tears, collect myself, call Animal Care and Control and report him.
To say you can’t bring yourself to put your dog down is not love, putting your dog down when they are no longer living, is loving them.
3 comments:
Cyd, you should be proud of yourself. If only everyone took the time to report such cases of neglect (which is what it is). The whole story makes me sick. I've also called and reported stray dogs, and felt bad about it after the fact, but I do believe being taken in and sheltered and fed, even if it leads to an unfortunate end, is better than wandering around scared, hungry, and exposed, which may also lead to an unfortunate end. At least when you call animal control, there is a chance the owner will be found, or they'll be adopted.
I agree with Shannon completely. People have to realize it's selfish to keep your pet living just because you can't handle the death.
Again, tears in my eyes after reading something you wrote. Knock it off, will ya?? ;)
Why is it kind to put down a cat or dog, but wrong to put down a human, who can no longer do anything for herself and is in horrible pain, even with the strongest dose of narcotics allowed?
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