Tuesday, July 27, 2004

A case of animal cruelty……

I have been hearing a dog whimpering over at my neighbor’s house. There were a bunch of younger kids living there and they moved out a few months ago. Apparently, they left the dog behind and come over every few days to feed it. I was curious as to its condition and snuck over today through the side yard to check on it. I was appalled at what I found.

They had the dog penned in on a 6 X 4 foot porch. It had defecated all over the porch and it looked like they hadn’t picked up the feces in weeks. The dog also had no food and water. It was starved for attention. It is a black and white female not much older than a puppy. I would say around 5 to 6 months old. She was so glad to see me and just whined and whimpered and jumped all around trying to get my affection. She was clearly malnourished as you could see her ribs and her backbone.

I decided to take action. I let her out of the pen and she followed me back home. I put down a bowl of water and she greedily lapped it up. I then opened a big can of salmon and put in on a paper plate and she ate it as if she hadn’t eaten in many days. She was just so glad to be out of that pen and get some attention and TLC. She is a sweetheart of a dog and really well tempered. She comes when you call her and has not strayed from sitting outside the door waiting on me.

I am at a loss as to what to do. I hate to call the humane society as I fear she will just languish in a pen and eventually be put to sleep. I could call the police on an animal cruelty charge. I think I will wait and catch the owner and talk to him. He is a young kid in his late teens or early twenties. Maybe a stern talking to and a threat of police action will alleviate the situation and cause him to start taking better care of the dog. From now until that time the dog will just stay over here with me. I am going to give her a bath and clean her up and keep her well fed and watered for a few days and wait for them to show up.

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