People make me so angry!

[Dulcee]

Need to rant somewhere. People make me so angry.

For one of my senior projects in college we need to take saliva samples from dogs housed at homes and in shelters. I've been volunteering at the local shelter to my college for a few years now. On our trip out today I was just completely sickened as to the reasons some of the dogs were in the shelter. One gorgeous border collie's card read "too much puppy for his family..." If people are going to make the very big step of bringing a new dog into a house why don't they look into the breed they are buying and understand what comes with bringing essentially a very rambuncious 3 year old into their house! :confused:

And then there was the 13 year old sheepdog who just looked so tired and sad who was abandoned there after his owner died and no relatives would take him in.

And the one that may have set off this entire rant was the 6 month old pitbull puppy with massive burns down her back, face and paws, a relic of her previous owner who she was siezed from :mad:. I sat with her outside for twenty minutes before she'd come out from her hiding spot and even approach me. After an hour of gently talking to she curled up next to me and fell asleep, content just to have someone to lay against.

I am an animal lover, my dog is a part of my family. :shake:I can't imagine how people do this. It makes me sick to my stomach. :soapbox: I'll stop now but if any of you out there are dog lovers, especially during this holiday season, try to remember your local shelters, they are really the last hope for so many animals who deserved so much better. :dog::cat::puppy:

[SBETigg]

Heartbreaking! It's so sad. How can anyone just leave a member of the family behind, or abuse a poor pet like that?

[Georgesgirl1]

I can't believe how some people treat their pets. DH and I have two dogs and they are definitely part of our family. One of our dogs is a rescue dog who was abused and neglected. Everytime I look into her eyes I can't imagine what kind of a monster could abuse a sweet puppy like her....

[Sunshine1010]

Thanks for reminding us about something we usually deal with by turning our heads so we don't have to think about it....

[TinkerbellT421]

It is so heartbreaking to me every time I hear these stories or see it for myself. I thankfully saved both my kitties that I have from having to have a life behind bars like that. I wish I could saw every single animal I saw in pounds/shelters or on the streets. Its so heartbreaking to me. Makes me so sad. :(:ill:

[TennesseeTink]

Your post brought tears to my eyes. I just can't understand the mindset of someone who abuses or neglects other creatures.

Our dog, Ginger was a stray. She's absolutely gorgeous, a purebred Tibetan Spaniel that someone probably dumped on the street(we believe because she was very hard to housetrain, a trait of her breed, you would think that someone who would pay 100's of dollars on a dog would do some research and know this). Any way I discovered very early on that whenever I came near her with paper in my hands, the mail or whatever, she would run and hide. I guess that was her original owner's training method. She knows "good puppy" and "bad puppy" and when you'd say "bad puppy" she would hide. :( Not anymore though because she knows not to be scared of us. She's also scared of men wearing hats. Makes you wonder.

She has been the absolute best pet and is definitely a member of the family. She's my little fur-daughter.

[Magic Smiles]

We don't own a dog, but the cat we had was a stray. The owners moved away and left him. We were new to the neighbourhood (a military one) and as soon as we found out we took him in. He had been on his own for 8 months by then. Spike went from being the toughest cat in the area to being the most loveable. Even though Spike had everything a cat could want, he would still drink from puddles and look for food in the garbage. Spike travelled from Toronto to Calgary and back to Ottawa with us.
Unfortunately we do not have Spike anymore as he came down with feline leukemia.
As someone mentioned, would you leave a member of your family behind? Pets are part of the family also.
Stories of abuse and abandonment to animals just sicken me. We are so bad that we even let the mice live in our garden shed over the winters and feed the rabbits that live under our shed so that they won't eat ALL of my bushes.

[pink]

It upsets me that people neglect and give up animals so quickly. :(

One of our cats we had once (she passed away years ago) showed up at our doorstep one day starving and had cigarette burns put out on her back.

Another one of our old dogs was a Pug that we rescued lived with a family that never trained him (he was five when we got him) and they obviously hit him because he would freak out when you tried to pet him.

It's sad, I feel so bad for the animals in shelters. :mickey:

[Ian]

I hate to point this out, but many people treat their children just as badly ... Dogs aren't the only ones out there with cigarette burns on them.

I just hope they crank up the heat when these people arrive "down there." :mad:

[Magic Smiles]

Bob Barker had it right:
Don't forget to have your pet spade or neutered to control the pet population.

:thumbsup:

[SurferStitch]

I know exactly how you feel! These people really frost my muffin, too!

Our pups are like our kids! We love them so much!! I couldn't imagine getting rid of them.

So many people have the opinion that dogs and cats are disposable. If they don't work out the way they want them to, they just dump them somewhere.

Disgusting.

[Davyjones]

You can judge the depth of a person and of a society by the way they treat animals. I try not to condemn people but they give me no reason to do otherwise. Our society as a whole sees pets and animals in general as disposable, which is sickening.

Get your pets from local humane societies, rescues and shelters. If people take the time and effort required for the animals, the rewards you get back will be immeasurable. :)

[dolphinmickey9170]

We are dog lovers. I'm sorry you had such a rough day.

Our Jack Russell was a rescue and he is just one of our kids. He sleeps IN our bed between us under the covers. He is so special to us. We just love him.

I watch Animal Planet a lot and see how these poor animals get treated. It's really sad. Anytime I hear someone looking for a dog, I send them to rescue one from a shelter.

[Stitchahula]

I get so mad when people treat animal badly. I'm a dog groomer by trade and I've reported a former boss for cruelty to animals unfortunately nothing happened to him. It wasn't the first time he had been reported either. I was leaving a grocery store when I spotted a dog in a truck with the windows up it was only 92 that day. The poor dogs tongue was twice the size it should be. I went back into the store to report it and they went over the store loud speaker to tell the person they needed to go check on their dog. The man was so mad at me the store manager called the police (we thought the guy was going to hit me). He tried to tell me that he treated his dog better than I treated my child (who I was holding at the time). I informed him that I treated my dog that wass dead (I had just put her to sleep )better than the one he left to roast in the hot sun. The police showed up and informed him that it was cruel to leave a dog in a hot vehicle in that kind of heat and that they have the authority to break a window if they have to if they can't find the owner in order to save the dog. He was really mad at everyone at that point so the police walked me to my car so he wouldn't bother me or follow me. I just don't understand how people can be so cruel to animals that only want love and to love.

[Sunshine1010]

Coreen...I would have done the same thing!!!!

I feel as though the people that 'pretend things aren't happening' are half the problem.

Good for you!!!!!!!