Someone called Animal Control and told them my dog was decrepit.

[undeterred]

He is a 14 and a half year old leonberger, a 7 year cancer survivor. He has twice survived bloat, and had two cruciate ligament repairs. His fur is thin in some spots because of thyroid disease. He is limpy because he has arthritis. He is deaf. But he is a happy dog and has lived much longer than most giant breed dogs do.

He barked ferociously at the Animal Control officer. She turned out to be pretty nice, but I was amazed that someone would call- I've lived here for 7 years and the dog is outside every day.

[xchrom]

1. people aren't used to seeing senior dogs.

they are living longer -- my 80lb guy lived to be over 15.

[Connonym]

2. a dog isn't allowed to become old? WTF?

People just amaze me. Makes me wonder if I'll be getting a visit from animal control because my dog has what will likely be a permanent limp after having broken her leg. I've got the thousands of dollars in vet bills to show that I didn't ignore it but still how humiliating would that be? Some people suck.

[undeterred]

4. Well, when I told her his story

she could see that I am a pet owner that has always gone the extra mile or he wouldnt be alive at this age. But if I saw an animal that concerned me I'd talk to the owner before making that call. I don't believe in killing an animal because they're not perfect any more than we should do that to a human.

[skygazer]

3. I've had animal control called on me several times

For the strangest reasons. Someone called once because my horses "had no shelter." My horses had a large shed they could go in and out of as they pleased but it wasn't visible from the road. They were perfectly healthy and happy (and never, ever used the damn shed anyway) but some nitwit, instead of knocking on my door and saying something, had to waste the time of animal control.

Someone called once because my dog had been outside on a chain "all day." It was before noon and I had 4 dogs at the time who I'd let out one after another throughout the morning. :eyes:

The best ones, though, were the people who would call to report "dead cows" out in the field. In the spring, sometimes a cow would just flop down on her side and bask in the sunshine. It was always fun when this outraged person would come along and I'd walk them out to the field to see the "dead cow." Poor thing would be having a nap and I'd have to nudge her - she'd leap up and trot away, pissed off. The look on these people's faces was priceless but I always felt bad for the cow.

I suppose people really think they're doing a good thing but many times, if they'd just knock on the door and check out the situation, they'd find everything was fine.

[GardeningGal]

8. Your cow story.....

OMG, falling over laughing!

:rofl:

[idgiehkt]

9. I knocked on a door once

and had a shotgun pointed at me, lol. I was just wanting to tell the people that their dog was out in the rain with no shelter, and he that is why he was barking and keeping me from getting to sleep. Every since then I let animal control handle things unless it's a dire situation. That is what they are paid for. I think it is great you are so tolerant of these folks, alot of people are c-r-a-z-y. And animal control in some places is worthless, I once asked an animal control officer who was sitting on his arse shooting the breeze at the volunteer fire dept to check on a dog at a house across the street and he wouldn't do it because of county/city designations. He didn't even budge. We pay for them with our taxes, so they need to be put to work, lol (I've had to call them three or four times to get them to deal with a situation). I used to read people the riot act about leaving their animals in hot cars in parking lots until the police and animal control became more receptive about handling these situations...it's truly a wonder I've not been shot. It drives me nuts that people like you who do their animals right are getting called on and other people can't be bothered to even feed their animals and aren't prosecuted when their animal is clearly starving (link below). Sigh, such is life, I guess. I still believe it is always better to call animal control when in doubt.

http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/CRUELTY%20NEWS/SNOCOW/SnoCow.htm

[skygazer]

23. You know what, that's a very good point

I guess mainly what I'm saying is that if you know the person, it might be better to check first. But you're right that people aren't always cool to talk to and that is when you need to call animal control (and I've had the same experiences as you - animal control officers not willing to do anything - boy that ticks me off!).

Everyone who called on me was actually a neighbor who knew me (except for the cow people who were just funny) so I wish they'd just spoken to me - I was (I thought) on good terms with them all.

[Raven]

5. You've done a wonderful job! That's a long time for a large breed

to live. I had a 16 year old black lab/collie mix that was the love of my life and she limped and looked ancient. People don't understand that you have to look into a dog's eyes to see how they really feel. I knew it was Gypsy's time when her eyes told me.

[undeterred]

6. thanks

When people ask me 'whats wrong with him' I always turn it around to 'this is the luckiest dog that ever lived'. If he were a human, he would he the guy that won the lottery 15 times. The survival rate on the 1st bloat procedure is 1%. It can't be very high on the gastropexy in a 14 year old. Or the experimental cancer treatment that worked and is now used in AIDS and Kidney cell cancer. He is one very lucky dog. And he loves life. I will know when its time.

[Wcross]

28. You're my kind of dog "owner"!

My motto is whatever is best for my furry friend. One time my Vet said, "Now for the hard part" as I left to pay my bill. I replied that the hard part will be when my money can't help her.

I can make more money, it isn't an issue when it comes to keeping the gang happy & healthy.

[NewWaveChick1981]

7. Wow....

:hug: It's ridiculous when people don't bother to ask first. Reminds me of the time about ten years ago that my husband and I, with our dogs (the ones we had at the time, RIP to both of them) in tow, stopped at a mall in the town where we lived. My husband parked the car in the shady parking garage (it was July) and I ran in to get some things at a couple of stores. I was gone for about 30 minutes, and he knew how long I'd be. He decided to take a nap in the back seat of the car while he waited, and our dogs were in the rear hatch where they liked to hang out. A couple of shoppers passed by, and our dogs barked at them because they got so close to the car. Well, since the windows to the car were closed and it was hot weather (although hubby had run the AC in the car and he was asleep in the back seat), those people became alarmed that our dogs would be left in a closed-up car. They stopped mall security, who then called the cops. When I got back to the car, all of them were waiting for me, asking why I would have left my dogs in the car on a hot day (in a shaded parking garage). :eyes: The cop was ready to give me a citation. I asked them, "Did you talk to my husband? He's in the car." They looked at me like I was crazy, and sure enough, he was in the back seat lying down. Their excuse: We didn't see him. My explanation: they didn't freaking look. They jumped to judgment. They apologized, and we went on our way.

Some people mean well but are complete idiots. :eyes: When I got back in the car, it was still nice and cool from when he'd had the AC on earlier. I know people do it, but I'm not stupid enough to leave my beloved pets unattended in a hot car.

[idgiehkt]

11. that is actually pretty funny

:rofl:

you left your hubby locked up in a hot car...I bet they were embarassed when they realized he was in the car with them. It actually sounds like you have good cops there, man some of them take forever to get there if they come at all and don't do anything when they do show up.

I have seen it happen so many times though. I've worked at a vet and had to deal with animals in respiratory distress and it takes a long time to come out of (like 45 min to an hour of sitting there not knowing if they are gonna drop dead of a heart attack at any minute), even if they are given tranquilizers and put on oxygen. Please don't take it personally when people call. I stupidly made an afternoon appointment at the vet yesterday for my Dad's dog, because it was the first available appointment they had, and then ended up having to take the other one as well because my Dad went out of town and that dog can't be left alone in the yard, he'll jump or dig out if no one is there, and I got a few dirty looks on the way there with those two big dogs in the car huffing off of the air conditioner. I felt like an idiot...but everytime I see a dog in a car on a hot day I call, regardless...it's good in a way because it gives the police/animal control whatever, one more experience with the situation. Like I'm sure those particular officers never failed to check and see if a human was in the car after that, lol.

[DBoon]

22. to heck with the dogs

I would have called police and reported a husband locked in a hot car!

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Someone thought my godessmother's cat was a decrepit old spay and took him to be

put down. She didn't find out until it was too late. :cry:

[badgerpup]

12. If I've got one of my cats with me...

...and I have to make a stop for an errand (don't like doubling back- gas, you know) I take them with me, carrier and all, into the store.
Just put the carrier into the basket, and I talk softly to the cat, telling him or her what's happening. They're pretty good with this...although Misha did voice his opinions, but he was just a very 'vocal' cat on any issue.
I still miss that big loud noisy cat...:cry:

One security guy at Walmart started to give me the fisheye, but I 'splained him that NO WAY was I going to leave little MacFeegle in the car in this weather! He looked at the carrier (Feegle wasn't freaking out or crying) and decided not to make an issue.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. I'm sorry, but I think the caller did the right thing.

There are far too many abused animals out there, and an even larger number of folks who just do nothing about it. The person who called was doing the right thing by ensuring the safety and well being of your pet and their heart was most certainly in the right place.

Honestly, can you not understand why someone might think your dog was maltreated just by looking at it? I know it's insulting to have someone think ill of you, but it's a well-placed misunderstanding.

[undeterred]

14. If they had bothered to cross the street they would have seen

that it was just an old dog. There is nothing about him that "looks" maltreated. If you know anything about dogs then you know that there are various reasons why they might lose patches of fur or limp and you would have to talk to someone who cares for the animal to determine that.

If you live in a neighborhood you watch what goes on around you every day for a couple weeks before you start calling the authorities.

[pitohui]

15. oh it's some trouble maker who don't like you or your politics, eff 'em

i'm embarrassed to say it but when i was a kid then if my mom didn't like someone one of her favorite things to do was call animal control on them and say their pet was being abused or barking too loud or something, anything that could be exaggerated into something, anything

sorry you are going thru this but some people just don't play fair

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

17. Well THAT is a different story altogether.

I don't think that's the case here though. The dog is clearly sick, even if not from abuse. For someone that doesn't know any better, that's a legit reason.

[undeterred]

19. I think it was a new neighbor

lots of people moving in and out this time of year... sometimes I put him out on a lead about 5:30 or 6:00am because he likes to watch the world go by and I am on a busy street. I haven't gotten a call like this for a few years, but when I did it was because somebody new saw him lying out there.

He's pretty mellow, just hangs out on the grass and watches the world go by- I have no fenced in yard but he's on a tie and its a busy street. I think people are surprised to see a dog who just lies there and watches things- he is surprisingly mellow.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

16. Scroll down to the post where someone had a shotgun pulled on them for that.

The caller did the right thing. Their heart was in the right place. Even if they were a complete idiot for making the call, thank god that they did. Perhaps if more people did that, fewer animals would have to suffer.

[undeterred]

20. True, and this was a nice Animal Control person

But some of the AC People are a little bit off.

[idgiehkt]

21. a couple of things to remember

I watch the animal cops show and every once in a while they will be on a call about one animal that turns up fine, only to see another animal in distress; I know on one I saw they went to pick up a dog that had been hit by a car and ended up picking up a stray female dog with a litter of puppies that had been living under a tarp as well. Also many times animal control responds to complaints about dogs and finds human beings that need some help from the county and don't know what resources there are out there, older people in particular benefit from this sometimes. You just never know what the universe is up to, lol. If someone won't deal with the owner nine times out of ten it is because they've had bad experiences in the past. Plus some animals don't have a couple of weeks, like humans animals can die really quickly from exposure or dehydration.

[Parche]

18. doggy

My dear Undeterred, hope everything else is going ok!!!! :hi:

Maybe they are Republicans across the way?????

[Sheltiemama]

24. I'd be furious

I'd be so furious if someone had called Animal Control about my dogs, I'd have gone over and ripped my neighbor a new one.

Both my dogs were 14 when they died earlier this year. Misty had cancer and had a bald spot on her side from radiation she'd gotten for another battle with cancer three years earlier. Andy had Cushing's and thyroid problems and had a very thin coat as a result. (The day he died he collapsed, which is how we discovered he had cancer, too. It was a type nicknamed "the silent killer.") We did everything we could to make them happy and comfortable. But they were still the two most beautiful dogs in the world to me.

[undeterred]

25. It was the word "decrepit" that got to me

To me he's beautiful, no matter how old and creaky he gets. And frankly thats not a word I'd pick out to describe any domestic animal.

[trof]

26. Wow! Ours made it through 2 bouts of bloat/torsion too.

I learned it's not that uncommon in large dogs.
Ours was a German Shepherd (last of 4) who finally succumbed in her sleep to just old age.

[undeterred]

27. The first time I didn't know what it was

He distended but didn't twist, so they could just deflate him. But they warned me it would happen again. It was more than a year later, and he was already 14. I took him to a different emergency clinic, and this time I was on top of it much faster because I knew right away what it was. But I wasn't sure if he could handle the gastropexy at his age. The surgeon told me she had done lots of older dogs. Most often it happens in the evening- and the problem is if people wait overnight its too late. But she did a great job - plus she got to completely inspect all his internal organs during the surgery and find no signs of tumors or anything else wrong, at least visually. He didn't have a normal heartbeat for 24 hours. But he got through it, so the rest is just grace.

The deep chested dogs are most prone to bloat- but the vets told me it occasionally happens even in a small dog like a beagle or even in cats. So its partly anatomy. Age makes it a lot more likely too. And for some reason, German Shepherds are very prone to it.

[mitchum]

29. Give him a hug from me :)

[undeterred]

30. thanks I will

:hug: