Sunday, December 9, 2012

Horrible

Ray and I were shopping for cat food at the local big-box pet store. One of the clerks, a girl who always makes a point of coming to pet Ray because she has a Bluetick Coonhound, was stocking the shelves. She stopped what she was doing when she saw Ray. Her eyes got a little misty.
"Hi, Ray," she said to my hound.
"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned.
"Our dog was becoming destructive. He was peeing and pooping all over," she said getting a bit choked-up.
"Oh, no," I said with dread in my voice, not wanting to hear the rest. "Was he sick? Did you have to..." my voice trailed off.
"So we had to give him to a shelter," she said.
I looked at her, stunned.
"How old was he?" I asked
"Ten." she replied. "He'd never done anything like that before. But he was peeing and pooping everywhere so my husband and I gave him to a shelter hoping that they could find him a home where he could stay outside all the time."
"That's horrible." I said, trying very hard not to sound judgmental. "It sounds like there was something wrong with him. Did you take him to the vet to find out?" I was edging away from her, not wanting to be contaminated by her nearness.
"Well, we had taken him to the vet before it started to happen and he was fine," she replied following me. Again she said, "He was getting destructive. He was peeing and pooping all over."
I was still moving away from her. I knew she was looking for me to say "You did the right thing," but all I could say was "That's horrible. You should have had him checked out. I don't know how you could give away a dog that you'd had for 10 years." I was still trying to keep the judgement out of my voice but wasn't sure I was succeeding.
"It was hard," she said, "But he was getting destructive. He was peeing and pooping all over."
She was stuck in a loop trying to defend the indefensible and justify the unjustifiable.
"That's horrible," I said again. I moved farther away from her. I felt like crying. She had finally stopped trying to follow me and was watching me mutely as I distanced myself from her.
Just then Ray let loose with an enormous deep-from-the-belly yell. In my preoccupation, I had let him get too near the cage with two cats up for adoption. He had 'treed' them. People came running from all over the store, drawn by the horrific noise, thinking that a dog was in distress. In a way they were right. It wasn't my dog, though, but an incontinent, 10-year old Bluetick Coonhound that had been abandoned by his family.


20 comments:

  1. OMG.. you said it...HORRIBLE! Having owned the dog for 10YEARS did she not know to have him vet checked? And she works in a pet related insustry...Really! 'Take him to the vet' should have been her 1st reaction. Oh, my heart breaks for her former dog. She doesn't deserve to EVER have another pet, of any kind. I pray she never has kids.

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  2. No words really :-( just hope the shelter get the dog sorted and rehomed

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  3. You said exactly the right thing, Jean. Material things can be cleaned, repaired or replaced, but a dog's spirit can't. That awful woman should be ashamed of herself. Do you know where the dog is?

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  4. Don't know what to say. It's a shocking story yet we don't know all of it: Perhaps they had no outdoors themselves. Perhaps they just didn't know what to do about his change in behaviour even after research. Perhaps 1 human said it's me or the pooch ... I'm on the fence, not advocating their decision at all altho' at least they didn't appear to immediately plump to have him euthanised ... except that may well have been the kindest outcome (I have personal experience) & they've palmed that decision off on to someone else. Thing is, how long do they expect the Shelter to house him before they're forced to make that final decision by proxy? I would hope the least they did was donate to the Shelter for their work and their abandoned dog's upkeep. How will this couple treat their Parents in their old age? Why won't the majority of people take responsibility for their choices and actions? Grinds my gears

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  5. On the subject of the eating of meat, Linda McCartney once said that if slaughterhouses had glass walls, we would all be vegetarians. I believe this is a similar concept; by just dropping the unwanted animal at at shelter, the owners can make up some fantasy in their heads that somebody out there came in and chose to adopt an elderly dog with physical issues as well as possible dementia. They never have to see the pain, the fear, the depression, and perhaps terror that (more likely) followed. Horrifying indeed. Sorry that happened to you...

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  6. Jez makes a very good point. I didn't even consider the woman's situation, I'm ashamed to say. It's Christmas time and she probably makes minimum wage and the cost of living is high in Jean's corner of the world.

    I would be willing to fund the vet bill if Jean is willing to coordinate a rescue.

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  7. Jez is right. I was trying very hard not to be judgmental when I was talking to the girl because I don't know her circumstances and she was obviously distressed about the situation. She's really young and I'm guessing not-long-wed.
    Having said that, it's the palming-off part that bothers me. I think the chances for a 10 year old incontinent dog to get adopted are rather slim. If it were me and I had to make the choice, I think I'd rather be there for my dog at the end.

    But then there is always the chance that someone like Tina would come along. If I were young and optimistic (and had no choice but to make a choice), I might make the same decision.

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  8. I read this post with a combination of anger and tears. It just seems to be the easy way out for too many people. No, we shouldn't judge too quickly because we're not in their shoes. I get that. However, it doesn't sound like there was much effort put into solving the problem. Vet bill? How about asking for a payment plan?

    Pets are not (in my opinion) disposable when not perfect or convenient. I see too much of that. For example someone I know moved in with a guy, he didn't want her dog, she "gave it away" (never really heard the details) and two months later, he bought her a large breed puppy. I almost bit my tongue off to keep a tirade of disgust to myself.

    I just know that you gave Ray and extra big hug, didn't you?

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    1. I agree that too many people take the easy way out when it comes to animals. They just want convenient and easy. And life is so often the opposite. As Jez sez "It grinds my gears."

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    2. And yes, Ray was treated extra special for awhile. Then it was back to just being treated like a king.

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    3. Sorry to be off thread & in particular this subject and I've just got to admire Acd Pack's funky profile pic - more info please?

      Have you ever tried Ray with doggles Jean?

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    4. No, I've never put Ray in doggles. I probably could if I wanted to. He's very malleable when it comes to clothing.
      Haven't you checked out ACD's blog? It used to be ACD6Pack but then she got another. I'm pretty sure Nik follows it.

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  9. That is awful. Sadly, I know of people that did that with their old dog too. It's just unbelievable. Those are the people that want the dog or cat just during the "good" times. As soon as that devoted family member shows signs of "destruction", out they go. These are people that don't know how to persevere, how to stand by anyone when the tough times come. They like to bury their head in the sand or run away. It's very hard to feel any sympathy for them.

    There are just too many people out there that want an easy way out. It's their animals that suffer. Their so-called "family members".

    Glad you didn't console her and tell her she did the right thing, because she didn't. A million people can tell her she did - but one old dog and those of us that truly love animals, know the horror of what she did.

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  10. Hear hear to everyone and especially for reminding me what I didn't think to say which is that our pets are absolutely members of our family

    And I would only advocate euthanasia if it was the right thing for the animal (dignity) not the situation (convenience)

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  11. I remember going to my vet's office in Texas and everyone there was upset because a woman had just brought in her senior dog (something like 12 years old) and told them to put it down - her fiance had told her the dog had to go before they got married. That dog had plenty of life left... On the opposite end of the spectrum, this heartwarming story about Fiona Apple: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/20/fiona-apple-cancels-tour-stay-home-dying-dog_n_2167320.html

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  12. ... volunteering at Tonka's rescue I can tell you excuses that people come up with that will boggle your mind and make you really angry. I am also glad you did not console her and I can only hope that the shelter has a good placement rate for older dogs. Hugs to Ray and now I have to go snuggle with my Tonka boy.

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  13. On my God. I just can't stand it. My tears are flowing. It's like watching a movie where people are killed, I can watch. Injure an animal, I'll never watch that movie (or at least that part of the movie) again. I HAD to put a beloved cat of mine down at age 20 after bladder cancer had done more damage than she could endure. That was our only option and I think of her to this day after nine years. That woman may not have been able to keep her dog, but there WERE other options.
    ~MfT

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    1. The worst part of this whole thing was, after I found out and posted this, Tina, one of Ray's fans contacted me and said she would adopt the dog if I could find it. I went back to the pet store, talked to the stupid girl, (who still maintained that her dog was 'destructive') and found out that they had given the dog over to a kill shelter. She works at a petstore that has adoption days ALL THE TIME with no-kill shelters as the sponsors. But they gave their old "destructive" dog to a kill shelter. The shelter wasn't able to give me any information on the dog because I didn't have the exact date that he was turned over. I went back to the petstore many times to try to talk to the girl again but she must see me coming and play scarce. I haven't seen her since. I know she still works there because her photo is still on the board. I just pray that they haven't replaced their old dog with another one.

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    2. Oh, my, that's even more tragic. To know that there was still hope with a kind soul who wanted to give him a home.
      ~MfT

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    3. I know that the kill shelter keeps dogs as long as there is room, so I try to believe that the old guy found a home.

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