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Neighbors dog
The lady that lives in front of me has a Shepard/Huskey mix his name is Sam. Sam is not even one yet he is beautiful and sweet and full of energy, unfortunately I do not think my neighbor likes hime to much. She already has one dog who is really old and is really sweet as well but her kids bought her Sam because she had another dog that passed away. I understand a little her feeling towards the situation, I guess picking a dog is a personal thing but now lets get down to business. She keeps him tied up in the front yard all day long while she is gone because she says he pee's in the house, but she does not go to work when she leaves she is unemployed and when she leaves she takes the other dog with her.
She is gone sometimes for 10 or 12 hours and he is never going to get trained that way. I know I sound like a big baby but if she does not want him why doesn't she try to find him a good home. She does not even take him for walks. So I watched her leave yesterday with a duffle bag and the other dog and I am pretty sure she is going away for memorial day weekend. I live in the Seattle-ish area so it is always cold and rainy and i thought it was the law for the dog to have a dog house to go into to stay dry. There is a front porch but it's small and the way the rain and wind was blowing last night he was not dry at all. I go over to her house throught out the day to play with Sam (I asked permission) and last night he was just balled up in the corner of the porch wet and cold. What should I do. I would love to take him but finacially we cannot we already have 2 large dogs that both have horrendous skin allergies so their meds and food alone are the reason I work. Please somebody give me some ideaSam deserves a family not to be tied to a porch waiting for some lady who doesnt really want him to come home everyday
She is gone sometimes for 10 or 12 hours and he is never going to get trained that way. I know I sound like a big baby but if she does not want him why doesn't she try to find him a good home. She does not even take him for walks. So I watched her leave yesterday with a duffle bag and the other dog and I am pretty sure she is going away for memorial day weekend. I live in the Seattle-ish area so it is always cold and rainy and i thought it was the law for the dog to have a dog house to go into to stay dry. There is a front porch but it's small and the way the rain and wind was blowing last night he was not dry at all. I go over to her house throught out the day to play with Sam (I asked permission) and last night he was just balled up in the corner of the porch wet and cold. What should I do. I would love to take him but finacially we cannot we already have 2 large dogs that both have horrendous skin allergies so their meds and food alone are the reason I work. Please somebody give me some ideaSam deserves a family not to be tied to a porch waiting for some lady who doesnt really want him to come home everyday
Call the local humane society or animal welfare organization and ask them to investigate. It will help if you are willing for your name to be used, if necessary. It is a stronger case if there is a witness who can testify that the conditions are ongoing. But if you ask them to keep your report confidential, they can probably still work with the situation by making successive visits. Of course, if they have to make successive visits, there is a chance that the lady will dispose of the animal in one way or another, before they come back. If the humane society has a ready witness, then they may be able to talk the woman into surrendering the dog on their first visit, which would be preferable. Only you can decide how far you are willing to go.
COMMUNITY LEADER
I agree with you. I don't like the sound of this. While it's often hard to see into other peoples' lives and make judgements, this stands out. Sam seems to be getting ignored for very long periods of time, and not satisfactorily provided for (ie, he should have adequate shelter if he is going to be outside, and should be on a good long chain and should have food and water provided at the very least.)
But this doesn't sound like any life for a dog, and especially a young dog. He is getting no stimulus (except that which you kindly provide) he is getting no socialisation, and no human contact. And it doesn't sound like he's even keeping dry.
I think from what you have said, you are right to be concerned.
But what to do? I am unsure who you should contact in your area. Here in England there is the RSPCA who will issue warnings to owners if their pet is not being cared for adequately, then if the warnings are unheeded, they have the right to take the animal away for re-homing. But what you have in Seattle, I don't know. Be very careful, because you wouldn't want him to end up in the dog Pound. He would be better off where he is, and many shelters do not keep the animals for very long before euthanizing them if for any reason they cannot quickly be re homed.
But this doesn't sound like any life for a dog, and especially a young dog. He is getting no stimulus (except that which you kindly provide) he is getting no socialisation, and no human contact. And it doesn't sound like he's even keeping dry.
I think from what you have said, you are right to be concerned.
But what to do? I am unsure who you should contact in your area. Here in England there is the RSPCA who will issue warnings to owners if their pet is not being cared for adequately, then if the warnings are unheeded, they have the right to take the animal away for re-homing. But what you have in Seattle, I don't know. Be very careful, because you wouldn't want him to end up in the dog Pound. He would be better off where he is, and many shelters do not keep the animals for very long before euthanizing them if for any reason they cannot quickly be re homed.
Of course, there is another course of action, which I am not recommending -- just saying it has been done. Some neighbors in that situation have stolen the dog, if they had a good home ready for him to go to. Or they have tipped off someone else who stole the dog and rehomed it into a good home. The disadvantages this are: (1) It is a crime, and if you get caught, it is obvious that you are guilty. There's not a whole lot you can say to defend yourself in court. The prosecutor and judge will say that you should have called animal control, rather than taking the law into your own hands. (2) This approach does nothing to prevent the lady or her kids from getting another dog and doing the same thing with it.
There's not a real good solution to this problem. I know, because I've been there. I've thought about all the angles. You just pick what you can live with. My biggest fear about reporting the people to the authorities was that they would retaliate against my own dog, who spent some time (not a lot, but some) in my back yard. Eventually, I did call both municipal animal control and the Humane Society.
Animal control would not even investigate. The Humane Society did come out. They told the lady that it was I who had reported her, even though they had said they would not do that, and they did not bring about any significant improvement in the dog's situation.
The neighbors hated me, but they never overtly retaliated. Eventually, they moved away in the middle of the night, taking the dog with them. I don't know what ultimately happened to the dog. He was a tough, sweet, little dog. He had to have had heartworms, though, because he lived in that backyard for about three years that I know of, and before they stopped talking to me, they admitted they were not giving heartworm preventative. Before the people moved, he dug under the fence to try to live with me. You can imagine how it broke my heart to have to fill that hole up and put him back in his yard.
Still another approach is to buy the dog or have someone else buy the dog. I have known someone who did that to rescue a neglected dog. The advantage is that it is legal. The disadvantage is that, like stealing the dog, it does not prevent the people from repeating their mistake. I offered to buy Lucky (believe it or not, that was his name), but the people would not sell him to me.
There's not a real good solution to this problem. I know, because I've been there. I've thought about all the angles. You just pick what you can live with. My biggest fear about reporting the people to the authorities was that they would retaliate against my own dog, who spent some time (not a lot, but some) in my back yard. Eventually, I did call both municipal animal control and the Humane Society.
Animal control would not even investigate. The Humane Society did come out. They told the lady that it was I who had reported her, even though they had said they would not do that, and they did not bring about any significant improvement in the dog's situation.
The neighbors hated me, but they never overtly retaliated. Eventually, they moved away in the middle of the night, taking the dog with them. I don't know what ultimately happened to the dog. He was a tough, sweet, little dog. He had to have had heartworms, though, because he lived in that backyard for about three years that I know of, and before they stopped talking to me, they admitted they were not giving heartworm preventative. Before the people moved, he dug under the fence to try to live with me. You can imagine how it broke my heart to have to fill that hole up and put him back in his yard.
Still another approach is to buy the dog or have someone else buy the dog. I have known someone who did that to rescue a neglected dog. The advantage is that it is legal. The disadvantage is that, like stealing the dog, it does not prevent the people from repeating their mistake. I offered to buy Lucky (believe it or not, that was his name), but the people would not sell him to me.
My dog Lucy was kept caged her whole life (the lady admitted it to me) and we also suspect abuse (Lucy would cower when we tried to pet her, and still jumps a mile high if we try to pick her up) she wasn't housetrained either. I don't think she even saw a table before, as she would jump right on top of it!
I answered an ad that her previous owner posted on the net and drove four hours to see her. As soon as I took one look at her, I knew I had to get her away from this lady. She was nine months old when we got her; it took us nearly a year to house train her. But she is the sweetest thing.
Maybe if you did just give an anonymous tip off, it might not be enough to have this dog taken away, but it might be enough of a wake up call to her to find a good home for this dog. I will never know what made this lady decide to give Lucy a second chance by selling her to me, but I'm glad she did. (And I know Lucy is too)
I answered an ad that her previous owner posted on the net and drove four hours to see her. As soon as I took one look at her, I knew I had to get her away from this lady. She was nine months old when we got her; it took us nearly a year to house train her. But she is the sweetest thing.
Maybe if you did just give an anonymous tip off, it might not be enough to have this dog taken away, but it might be enough of a wake up call to her to find a good home for this dog. I will never know what made this lady decide to give Lucy a second chance by selling her to me, but I'm glad she did. (And I know Lucy is too)
I would just like to add, I do not think that his owner dislikes him or is trying to mistreat him. I think she just did not want him but her grown kids who should have know better got him for her and now she seems to think she is stuck with him instead of trying to find him a loving home. He does have food and water and his cable seems to be long enough, but to me it is no life for him. I am more worried for his safety because he barks alot when his owner is gone and I hear people at this trailer park that is next to the house yelling at him. I am just worried somebody is going to do something evil and mean. When he barks I usually go over and quiet him down. My husband says I am becoming obsessed with him, but I just want to make sure he is okay. I am constantly looking out the window to make sure he is okay. If I could I would take him, but believe me when I say my hands are full with the two I have now. I know it is ultimately my decision, maybe I can ask her if it would be okay for me to walk him. I can just see my husbands face when I tell him that idea :) Thanks everyone for helping me with this dilema
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