Irresponsible Owners!

J

jerros

Forums Enthusiast
Now I may be over reacting here, and perhaps this is just a way for me to vent...but anyway here goes..

When I was a child my parents had gotten me a Cocker Spaniel from a very reputable breeder. This dog was an incredible pup, I got very attached in a short amount of time. One day my parents put me down for a nap because I was acting up, and when I awoke I found out that my father had taken my dog outside off leash, the pup spotted a rabbit across the street and the pup ran for it. He made it across the street but on his way back he got hit by a car at 55mph. Needless to say dispite my familys best efforts at the time the pup didn't make it.

The reason I mention all this is because I kind of relived this experiance over the weekend while out walking Vash. One of my neighbors was cleaning their house, their front door was wide open. When Vash and I walked by this home (across the street) a small little poodle came running out in our direction, dodging incomming vehicles along the way.

When he first came over I half expected the owners to follow, but they never did ( i waited about 10 min). I tried to grab the little guy but he was fairly agile for something so little, eventually i decided the best course of action was to take Vash across the street and notify the owners that their dog had run out of the front of their house and across the street in traffic.

The plan worked, the poodle followed us across the street safely and as soon as we entered the yard he went into the house. But I wasn't really satisfied leaving it at that, I rang the door bell and let the owners know what their dog had been up to while they weren't paying attention.

I was feeling pretty relieved about doing the right thing until I walked by their house on the way back home and noticed the door was still open and the dog was still roaming around freely. He didn't leave the house this time but no one was watching him at all.

I guess I'm really just annoyed at these pet owners for being so completely oblivious to the fact that their dog just narrowly avoided death when he ran out to greet us, and that even after being notified didn't do anything to prevent it from happening again.
 
I don't get people like that. Cadbury has slipped out the front door a couple of times and I have freaked out, even though we are in a cul-de-sac, so few cars and few going fast. He managed to yank the lead out of my hand as I walked him to the car the other day and ran off a little way - that panicked me too!

So I just don't understand people who let the dogs wander. We have some in the next road who are the same. They have a yellow lab and if they are outside or by the car it is never on the lead and I have now seen it twice wander into the road when a car is coming. One time it took off to follow a chap walking his dog and crossed the road.

They live at the top of a junction with cars turning in and out, plus the road they attach to is extremely busy with fast cars. Why take the risk of losing your pet?

I guess some people perhaps just don't care as much, or maybe they don't think it will happen to them?
 
Just reading your story made my stomach turn over.
If your town has a leash law, I would report them to animal control that the little dog was roaming, and you were very concerned. Animal control will usually pay a visit and give them a warning. Hopefully, that will put it in the front of their pea sized brains to pay attention.
In Maine, I know some people have a pet name for me (I won't mention it) because I am militant about loose dogs. People seem to think because they are at their vacation home, their dogs are on vacation too. So, you have all these dogs running loose. Years ago I picked up a Yorkie running along the side of the road next to my Expedition. Scary. This summer I stopped traffic both ways with my van for a little white poodle. I get physically ill when this happens. Oh, and if I can get to the owner, I made my stomach feel better by giving them some strong advice.
 
Some people just don't deserve to be loved by a dog do they:mad:

I have also picked up my fair share of 'strays'. Mostly the owner is completly unaware of what has happened. One time I was on my way back home from walking the boys and there was a little dog running down the road. I stopped the car and tried to catch her but she was out of her mind with fright. I had a pretty good idea where she had come from and followed her very slowly as she ran full tilt along the country road back to her home. My heart was in m mouth the whole time as 4x4 often come speeding down here, and she would not have stood a chance. It was a good couple of miles until she was back home. Whe I rang the bell and told them, they said she'd been out all night , yet they were in their dressing gowns and slippers. So not really bothered then:mad:

A couple of days later I returned home a gorgeous pointer. The owner had not realised the dog was out and was almost weak with relief that her dog was home unharmed. She said she would put a spring on the gate so it never happened again.

Two completly different owners.

I tell visitors to our house to look for the house with the gate across the front door:wink2:
 
I often times get people coming to the service desk to complain that somebody has left their dogs in their vehicles - without the window rolled down. :rolleyes2:

The latest incident though takes the cake.

A woman came to the service desk with a small puppy in her hands. This puppy looked to be some sort of jack russell mix, or at least some type of terrier mix. This puppy could not have been more than 5 or 6 weeks old. Somebody had left their suv open, and the puppy was roaming our parking lot! :eek2: When the owner finally came to the service desk quite a scene followed. Every associate in the store gave him a piece of their mind. Between all the cussing, screaming, and half truths, this was what I got out of the situation.

The man's son (probably around 7 years old by the looks of him) had stolen the puppy from the neighbor's yard. Which, I guess, goes to show you how much of a red neck the people were anyway. Who leaves a 5 or 6 week old puppy UNATTENDED in their yard?! Anywho, my best guess was that the dad didn't realize that the son had it. They pull into our parking lot, and SURPRISE DAD! Guess what I have?! The dad doesn't want the puppy and leaves the door open in a poor attempt at luring somebody in to steal the puppy, or worse - the puppy gets ran over. Either way it solves his problems. We know for a fact the son did steal the puppy, because a cashier said she knew the people that had the puppies.

One lady was extremely upset with him (and rightfully so!), and I do think he should count his lucky stars that she didn't tear into him before he left. :eek2:

Usually there are no dogs in the store other than service dogs. I knew when the lady brought the puppy to the service desk that we were in for a wild ride! He had people waiting for him outside, too. :uhoh: So after he left and made it out to his vehicle (and he did leave with the puppy) he got told off again!
 
I had neighbors a couple of doors down that let their dogs roam loose. The worst part of it was when I was walking with my kids in the stroller, these large dogs would be on my property, barking and lunging at me. Needless to say they are now gone, from getting hit by cars. I have other neighbors who let their dogs offleash in the yard. My biggest problem with this is that my dog Maddie for some reason gets attacked by other dogs. It happens randomly and by "really friendly" dogs, so it kinda annoys me that people do this. There is one lady at the end of the street and every time I approach her house, I check to see if her dogs (German Shephards) are out. If they are, we turn around and go home before they run over.
 
I do believe some people are just honestly ignorant about the inability of a dog to really understand cars and roads. They think they are doing the dog a favour by allowing them to roam freely. And the amount of times I hear people say "s/he is really good around cars" - problem is it only takes one mistake.

Why do people expect dogs to be good around cars and roads. After aall the supposedly more intelligent human children have classes on road safety at school and still their parents will hold their hands to cross.
 
I have a horrible neighbor with 5 kids and many many animals, among them are two dogs, one a shepard/husky mix pup. My neighbor is lazy and abusive and allows her kids to mistreat the pup. In addition he is NEVER walked so gets his exercise escaping the yard on a daily basis. So lazy neighbor sends her kids out after the pup, where they run down the middle of the road, stopping traffic (the kids chasing the pup range in age from 4 to 8 years old). It makes me sick every time I see it. I've tried repeatedly to have it stopped because I fear for both the pup and her kids, but it always stops for a while before starting again. Some people should not be allowed to breed.
 
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