Get Involved-You Can Be Anonymous!

What do you do when you see a dog that isn't being treated right? Do you call the authorities or animal control, or do you just shake your head and say, "poor dog?" Most people do the latter, and just go on about their day. Well, the other day, I didn't just go about my day. I have some people that live in my sub-division, and I know them well, that have a Basset Hound. This dog is really pretty and seemed to be a nice dog.

Well, sometime ago, the woman came to my church with her aunt. She told me that the Basset was pottying in the house. She said that he goes to the door, but doesn't alert them. Well, I am sorry, but he is alerting them by going to the door. They are just too lazy to go to the door and let him out. Well, I told her about this great thing called "Poochie Bells." They are bells on a designer ribbon that you hang on your door and the dog hits the bells to let you know when they have to go out. Well, that just went over like a lead balloon. She said he was hopeless and had to stay outside or in his crate most of the time. I just cringed.

Sorry, I regressed. Back to what I did. The other day, it was blistering cold and he was outside, lying on the cold ground, no blanket or house or anything. And, when I say nothing, I mean nothing. He didn't even have a bowl for food or water. I was on my way to work at Just Dogs! Gourmet, when I passed their house and saw him, curled up in a tight ball. I crossed the railroad tracks, stopped to wait on traffic to pull out on Rt. 2, when I said to myself, enough is enough. My husband had a blanket in the back seat of his truck, key word, "had." I pulled across Rt. 2 and turned around and came back across the tracks and turned on the street that paralleled the side of their house and stopped.

I got out, opened the door, pulled the blanket out, walked over and he ran away, of course, till he got to the end of his chain, and I talked to him, put the blanket down, and left. As I backed up and turned around, I looked and he was standing on it, sniffing it. Well, I went to work, and when I came back, the blanket was gone, and he was still outside, curled up, trying to stay warm. I am calling animal control tomorrow. I didn't want to go that route, but it seems the only way. It really surprises me out this couple. They have had dogs before, and didn't do this.

I don't want to make them mad, but I really don't care at this point. I was hoping they would take the hint and, if not bring him in, at least put out something for him to make a nest on. If more people would stop and do something, maybe the plight of the animals would lessen. But, our society is such that it is a world of "I don't want to get involved." Stand up, get involved. Remember, you don't have to give your name when you call animal control. I know they are slow to respond, but, if you call enough times, they will come out. Be persistent. I am, and it seems to work.