It is always a happy world when you place a dog in a home and the family for years tells you how much they love the dog. But if you stop and think about it the way that dog got to that family SUCKS! Someone along the line DUMPED the dog and it was moments away from dieing and I took it in. In was scared, confused and given a new name b/c of course I have no idea what it's name was.
It is taken to a strange smelling place (my farm) and put in a large fenced area with 10 other dogs... kinda like a doggie park. It is so confused. It is then poked (given shots), stuff shoved down it's throat (wormer) and wet stuff dripped on it's neck (frontline). The poor dog is then taken and put in a large kennel with 1 - 2 other dogs.
For the next 2 days more stuff shoved down it's throat (wormer is given 3 days in a row). Then day 4 given a bath and then about 5 days later taken to the vet to be fixed, rabies, heartworm test, health exam, etc.
Really if you stop and think about it the first 10 days of a dog in rescue is very traumatic.
Then once everything has been done and the dog is just starting to settle in to farm living it is picked up by a nice speaking women who takes the dog home to foster it. The dog is again confused for a few days but happy to be sleeping on a couch / bed / lap.
Then after it starts to settle thinking this is home, it is adopted. And is forced to settle in a new home and 9 times out of 10 gets a new name.
LUCKLY! That home lasts for ever and after about 2 years the dog doesn't even remember (we hope) all it went through to get there.
THEN you have the dog that after 2 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years even 4 years is returned because.........
...family is moving
...illness of the human
...illness of the dog
...just decides that having a dog isn't fun any more
...got a new dog and doesn't want this dog any more
...some lame excuse
Now don't get me wrong I have had dogs returned for legitimate reasons but that only happens about 10% of the time.
I guess I am just feeling down b/c I hate when dogs are returned and I hate putting dogs to sleep and I HATE THE PEOPLE that dump the dogs in the first place making what I do (dog rescue) necessary.
Just last night Gloria had to put to sleep a dog, Caesar. Caesar had seizures and was on medication. His family of 5 years took him to the pound and dropped him off with his medication saying they couldn't afford to take care of him any more.
OMG you should have put the dog to sleep then. What this poor dog went through from the time he was dumped at the shelter to the time Gloria put him down last night at the EMERGENCY clinic.. that was a bill of $192.00.. would have been much nicer to him.
This poor dog on the medication acted so strange. The best way to describe it was like a person on speed. He was nervous, jumpy and "watchful," almost parinod.
To make a long story short we figured out what type of seizures he has... they are called cluster seizures. What that means is they have seizure after seizure after seizure and never really comes out of it. He was so out of it that Gloria couldn't get the medicine down his throat. He acted like he didn't even know who she was and the day before he JUMPED into her arms and was licking her face and was SO HAPPY!
When Gloria did get the medicine down his throat he would have a seizure and throw up, poop, pee and then thrash around in it... it was horrible she said, the worse thing she has ever witnessed a dog going through and the worse part was there was ABSOLUTELY nothing she could do to help him. :-(
His seizures seemed to get worse and worse as yesterday went on and by 8pm last night they were so bad that he was acting out aggressively and biting at his cage door and getting his teeth stuck on the wire door. He was making him self bloody thrashing around in the cage. She couldn't take it any more and rushed him to the emergency vet and had him put to sleep.
Yesterday between Gloria and I we spoke to 3 different vets about his seizures and all the different symptoms he was having. And then last night when the emergency clinic vet was looking at him she said that his eyes were moving up and down and that is a sign of a brain tumor. His pupils were dilated different sizes which is also a sign. Dogs who just have regular seizures not caused by a brain tumor their eyes move side to side.
This entire experience SUCKED and I feel horrible for Gloria having to deal with this but we did learn a lot from it.
I told Gloria I want to call the people that dumped Caesar and screaming at them... I know it won't do any good and I won't really do it but I am so upset I really want to. I want to tell them they are horrible people for dumping their dog and how much he suffered since they dumped him and SHAME ON YOU!
Dog rescue just sucks sometimes!
4 comments:
Do it, call the owners and tell them what horrible, cowardly, negligent, self-absorbed assholes they are. Part of the problem with society today is that no one is called to accountability, told in no uncertain terms about the quality and impact of their actions. And thus, we have people who dump an animal like it is garbage. Maybe, just maybe, being called on their actions will cause them to think a little more about the welfare of their pet the next time. Probably not, but you never know and you will feel a lot better. Maya Angelou...when you know better, you do better....
Clearly these people don't see how bad they are, so how can we better educate people to be good dog caretakers?
I spend a lot of time at the dog park, and was shocked the other day when someone from my neighborhood said, "What's the big deal? I'm not married to my dog." I almost lost it! All I had to say was, "Well, then I'm glad that's your wife's dog, and if you ever find yourself single, please don't get any pets." Hhmph.
I think the key is getting it into the heads of America's youth - especially those from bad neighborhoods because there seems to be a high propensity of irresponsible dog owners in those areas - that caring for a dog is a lifetime commitment and dogs are not just "things."
On a related topic, I'm so frustrated with the media's coverage of San Francisco's proposed pet shop ban on the sale of companion animals. Headlines say "Illegal immigration is fine but you'll go to jail for buying a hamster." Are you kidding me? This law would have such a positive impact on pets and people who want to buy them. Not only would they not be making an impulse buy, but they would be less likely to be getting a sick puppy from a puppy mill.
Thanks for letting me rant. I'm with you...
rant away.. makes me feel better that I am not alone in this world..LOL
When it starts to really suck for you, just keep in mind all the sucess stories! When we got Rosie from you last November, she didn't know what toys were, she didn't know what treats were, she walked around with her tail between her legs, she would run and cower under the bed or couch if we raised our voices or our arms....(as if we were going to hit her) I don't know what in the world she went through in her "other life" but it must have been awful. Now, she's like a totally different dog. We love her more than anything and would NEVER give her up. She is the happiest little thing and wouldn't be here with us if it weren't for YOU! So.....thanks!
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