And we've reached a new low...
I occasionally help out a few local animal (mainly dog) rescues. I've done that in various capacities for years. Mainly I help with intake as needed, particularly if a dog is being turned into a rescue. Since I don't have my Jeep anymore, I haven't done that much in the last few months, but I still offer help when I can if a rescue worker needs an extra hand with getting an addled dog into a car or to the vet or whatever after being turned in by its previous owner.
Needless to say, having done this in places like Lincoln and Chicago, I have run into a few sad conditions as a first responder. Usually, if the owner cares enough to acknowledge that they can't care for the dog anymore and goes to the trouble of contacting a breed rescue agency, the dog is in fairly good shape. It is usually the chumps that just go dump a dog off on the side of the road or try to kill the dog that are the nasty situations that volunteer breed rescuers don't tend to have to deal with. That usually falls to local dog pounds or animal control. I have occasionally had to help extricate a stray dog from something like a barbed wire fence, but that's about the extent of the sad situations that I've run across over the years.
I got a call this evening from a rescuer asking if I could help pick up a dog from a guy who was turning in this dog he didn't want anymore. Apparently the details of the drop off were a little bit sketchy (parking lot of the Walmart?), and the rescuer called me to ask if I could come as a backup and a witness in the event something happened. I said I was happy to come down and help out.
I got there a few minutes late and found the rescuer talking to what I can only describe as "this dude." "This dude" was talking to the rescuer from his pick up truck window, which seemed a bit weird to begin with. The rescue intake worker was asking the standard questions of dog history, medical issues, etc. Apparently this dog had been hit by a car a while back and had had surgery on its leg. As a result, it now had a slight limp. It also had some mange issues on its ears, which "this dude" was saying was a result of the car accident (yeah, car fenders are notorious carriers of doggie dandruff, but that's a separate issue...)
Finally the magic bullet question came when the responder asks, "Why do you want to give up this dog?"
Without missing a beat, "this dude" says, "I don't want no @#&$ limping dog!" He proceeds to grab the small to medium sized dog that was sitting seat next to him, throw the dog out the car window at the rescue worker and myself, and peel off down the parking lot like a gangster running from a drug deal gone bad. I've been doing freelance animal rescue work for a long time, and I have never seen anything like that before.
The saddest thing was that the dog was the sweetest little thing. After the momentary daze of having been hurled out a car window wore off, the dog sort of cuddle up to me and the other rescue worker, just as sweet and loving as can be. She did have a little bit of a limp, but not much. I'm not even convinced, given the relatively young age of the dog, that the limp won't go away, or at least lessen, over time.
Honestly, how can you do something like that to a sweet little dog? That just makes me really angry. On the upside, the dog is now going to foster care and a vet. I'll keep you updated as I learn more.
Needless to say, having done this in places like Lincoln and Chicago, I have run into a few sad conditions as a first responder. Usually, if the owner cares enough to acknowledge that they can't care for the dog anymore and goes to the trouble of contacting a breed rescue agency, the dog is in fairly good shape. It is usually the chumps that just go dump a dog off on the side of the road or try to kill the dog that are the nasty situations that volunteer breed rescuers don't tend to have to deal with. That usually falls to local dog pounds or animal control. I have occasionally had to help extricate a stray dog from something like a barbed wire fence, but that's about the extent of the sad situations that I've run across over the years.
I got a call this evening from a rescuer asking if I could help pick up a dog from a guy who was turning in this dog he didn't want anymore. Apparently the details of the drop off were a little bit sketchy (parking lot of the Walmart?), and the rescuer called me to ask if I could come as a backup and a witness in the event something happened. I said I was happy to come down and help out.
I got there a few minutes late and found the rescuer talking to what I can only describe as "this dude." "This dude" was talking to the rescuer from his pick up truck window, which seemed a bit weird to begin with. The rescue intake worker was asking the standard questions of dog history, medical issues, etc. Apparently this dog had been hit by a car a while back and had had surgery on its leg. As a result, it now had a slight limp. It also had some mange issues on its ears, which "this dude" was saying was a result of the car accident (yeah, car fenders are notorious carriers of doggie dandruff, but that's a separate issue...)
Finally the magic bullet question came when the responder asks, "Why do you want to give up this dog?"
Without missing a beat, "this dude" says, "I don't want no @#&$ limping dog!" He proceeds to grab the small to medium sized dog that was sitting seat next to him, throw the dog out the car window at the rescue worker and myself, and peel off down the parking lot like a gangster running from a drug deal gone bad. I've been doing freelance animal rescue work for a long time, and I have never seen anything like that before.
The saddest thing was that the dog was the sweetest little thing. After the momentary daze of having been hurled out a car window wore off, the dog sort of cuddle up to me and the other rescue worker, just as sweet and loving as can be. She did have a little bit of a limp, but not much. I'm not even convinced, given the relatively young age of the dog, that the limp won't go away, or at least lessen, over time.
Honestly, how can you do something like that to a sweet little dog? That just makes me really angry. On the upside, the dog is now going to foster care and a vet. I'll keep you updated as I learn more.
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