Someone abandoned a dog in our neighborhood last week. I'm assuming it was last Thursday. It was a rainy afternoon and the little fellow was discovered huddled under the overhang of our front porch by the electrican we were expecting to do some service in our house. The dog darted off when he came up the walk to the door.
When I got home from work that afternoon, I saw the dog hovering under the eaves over the deck of our neighbor's house. By this time a steady light rain was falling and he was doing what he could to stay dry. I went over with a handful of dog treats to try and coax him over so we might help him.
He's a little dog. We think he's some kind of Boston Terrier/Pug mix. When I walked up the stairs he started barking and ran to the deck railing, trying to squeeze through two of the balusters holding up the railing. At this, I figured it would be best to leave him alone.
The next day I saw him in the back yard of another neighbor's house, two doors down from us. He was looking in the direction of our house as if he was wondering if we would come out. I brought him food and water and put it against the house next door. I had ripped up some chicken and put it on top of the kibble I had put in the bowl. As I approached to put it down he barked and barked and barked, warning me not to invade his space.
Later in the day I checked the bowls and he had eaten the chicken bits but left the kibble. Turns out he was finicky in what he'd eat.
Both Alexa and I spent time trying to lure him to us. We sat on the ground a respectful distance away and tried to be as non-threatening as possible, We wanted to earn his trust. He stopped barking and came closer to check us out. He had his limits though. He wouldn't come closer than 15 feet but seemed curious in what we were doing.
Later in the day I refilled his bowls and moved them closer to the wheelbarrow he had been sleeping under so he might feel more comfortable eating. I figured if the food was right there, he might be tempted to eat.
That evening the temperature was dropping so Alexa took an old blanket out to him and put it under the wheelbarrow that had become his makeshft home. We figured at least he could keep a little warmer and drier if he wasn't sleeping directly on the ground.
The next morning we awoke to find him again watching for us. Though he still barked when he saw us and backed away when we approached, he was at least he wagging his tail. I went over to retrieve the bowls and discovered he had eaten a good portion of the dry food and drank a good amount of water during the night. I refilled both and brought them back so he could eat during the day if he wanted.
We called Animal Control to get them to come out and pick the little fellow up. To my surprise, they told me if I couldn't catch him, they probably couldn't catch him and didn't even want to come out. They suggested we come and pick up a trap which we could set up and lure him into it with some smelly canned dog food.
They also told us if we could get him in the cage, they wouldn't be able to pick him up until tuesday as they were closed Sunday and Monday. We had no choice but try on our own to help this pup out.
We spent the next day again trying to get him closer. We even brought Tellie (who is about the same size) over to say hello to him, thinking she would be non-threatening and might draw the dog to her and possibly follow her to our house.
No such luck.
Bottom line it's the beginning of the fourth day and he's still out back watching for us. We're not sure what to do but need to figure something out pretty quick. It's supposed to get a little colder. It's supposed to rain. Absent any other help, it seems it's up to us to try and do something. I don't know what's going to happen but I guess ultimately, we'll figure something out.
I don't know how some people can be so mean and cruel as to abandon a dog. Whoever did it has no heart and should be ashamed of themselves. Whoever it was took off his collar and for some reason left him to fend for himself. I can understand a changing situation and it's not practical to care for a dog any more. I can even understand having buyer's remorse after bringing the dog home. I can't understand leaving a dog homeless. It seems a better choice, rather than dump him on the street, is to turn it in to an animal shelter, preferably a no-kill shelter. There are a number of them in our area and they are equipped to care for dogs in a situation like this. At least then the little fella would have a chance of being adopted and finding a home where he might be loved.
No comments:
Post a Comment