lost and/or neglected dogs.
just returned from lunch with my wife. a male german shepherd was wandering loose. he had toenails almost 1 1/2 inches long, a mangy butt, ugly tumor-looking things in his ears, and he was getting pretty skinny. he had a choke collar but, you guessed it, no id tag or dog license. but what a handsome animal. and he was so gentle.
i had my own male shepherd in the van and so i couldn't load the lost one up. but i did stop, give him a nice big drink, some dog biscuits (i only had 4 with me) and i called the animal control people from my car phone. they had one report of a lost male. they gave me that # but i got an answering machine. i left my car phone # on their machine, but time was running out. i had to get on with what we were doing, and i was running out of options. old "lucky" was still looking pretty hungry despite the 4 biscuits, so i put him on a lead and walked him two blocks to the local zoo where i purchased 2 hot dogs for him. no mustard or ketchup. wow. they disappeared fast. buns and all.
then i walked him back to my van where my wife was waiting in case a call came in on the car phone. nope. and animal control wouldn't even come pick him up due to recent budget cutbacks. the way i figure it, "lucky" (as i was now calling him) didn't have such great owners, even if he was lost. i could see that by the length of his nails. he was having difficulty walking. and what responsible owner doesn't keep a license or id tag on their animal?
faced with dwindling options, i had to let "lucky" off the leash, to head back on his way. at least he got some petting, a couple hot dogs and some biscuits and a big drink of water. it tears me up, but i did what i could.
i wish you well, "lucky". |
