Please people, please don’t take your unwanted animals to the country and just drop them off. I know you think that if you do, they will find food and shelter. But 90% of the time, they don’t. Some times they will sit in the very same spot you drop them off. Waiting for you to come back and pick them up. We see this happen over and over out here where we live. People, these animals don’t always find a home. They don’t always find food. Lots of times, they get run over. Or they get shot. Or they starve to death, because they have been domesticated.
Right now we have 2 dogs roaming the area that someone has dropped off. A mother and a pup. For a about a month now, these two dogs have been hanging around the same area where lots of people tend to “drop off” their unwanted pets. They are too scared to come up to our place because of our dog. But they are still hanging around where someone left them. They were in pretty good shape when we first started seeing them. But now they seem to be kinda bony. There isn’t much around to eat except for bugs and small animals. That in itself could cause them intestinal pain and disease.
Every pet we have had has been the result of someone dropping off their “pet” they no longer want. Just this past summer, we noticed a little sheltie hanging around the corner where I guess the drop off point is. You couldn’t even tell it was a sheltie. The poor thing looked more like a bald coyote. For about a week, we watched the little dog sit beside the road. Wondering what would happen to him or her. Soon the dog was hungry enough to make it’s way to our house. But only at night, so as not to be seen I guess. He looked positively horrible, but upon closer inspection, we noticed he looked a little like a sheltie. A sheltie with a horrible case of mange. The little hair he had, was matted so bad the t-shirt material he was wearing for a makeshift collar, was all tangled together. This dog made me cry. And I don’t mean just a little boo hoo, I mean angry, frustrated, and horrified that someone used to own this dog.
I couldn’t help it, but I had to feed him. Now not all animals will I feed. Remember we have two small children who don’t understand rabies just yet. Or rather don’t understand what can happen as a result.
So anyway, I feed him and he looks so sad. But he doesn’t come up to the house, but rather hangs out away from the house. After a week or so of keeping the kids away and watching the behavior of the dog, Nosey throws a stick. The dog fetches and brings the stick and lays it at his feet. I think that is what got Bud to thinking. Not long after that, we took him to the vet. He had mange. He had all kinds of worms. And the vet said he was an older dog. Upon closer inspection, he also noted he was neutered. Further evidence this dog had been “dropped off”. So he was wormed, received all shots, and we were sent home with medicine to dip him with. Within a few weeks, his hair started growing back. I finally cut away all the matted hair, and now 5 months later, he is a beautiful dog. A member of the family.
But the point I am trying to make is that, not all animals are this lucky. Most of the time, they are beyond help. Like I said previously, most get run over, or turn wild, or die of rabies or starvation.
Please, Please don’t drop off your unwanted pets in the country somewhere. Just because you place them near homes, doesn’t mean they will survive. Take them to a shelter where they can possibly be adopted out and have a chance at a good home. This sheltie, just happened to be lucky, unlike the two roaming around the area now.
