I imagine whoever found this little guy was rather surprised. I found a ferret once, myself; it was galumphing around the hall in my dorm in the middle of the night. I put a sign on the front door and went to bed, leaving the ferret to explore my room. When I woke up, he was curled around my feet under the covers. His owner called me a short time later, much relieved.
This one's a tale of outrage:
Someone "adopted" Comet the beagle puppy, then turned around and tried to make a profit on him. Grrr.This one made me laugh:
I sure hope they got their Buzzkill back!And finally, personal outrage:
I know Patch well, as he is always running loose. His owner cultivates a macho Buffalo Bill persona, complete with cowboy hat, goatee and cowboy boots. He refuses to get the dog neutered. And I've seen him kick the dog. He's an asshole. Twice I'd been involved in returning Patch to his home. I swore to myself that the third time I'd take him to the shelter instead.
Of course, Patch showed up again, this time at my house, a mile from his. And of course it was right as I was running out the door and didn't have any options for locking him up safely while I was gone. I put him in my car and took him home. I was so hopping mad I really let Bill have it. Seriously, I was yelling. "Look, I don't care what kind of macho man you think you are, get the goddamn dog neutered and fix your goddamn fence so he can't get out! He's going to get hit by a car or start a fight and get picked up by the cops and that will be the end of him and it will be your fault."
All Bill could do was mumble and make some lame excuses (seriously, he said, "Patch has already been hit by a car; he's smart enough to stay away from cars now." Me: "Bullshit! He may be smart but he's a dog.")
Later I heard from the gals at the coffee shop (where Patch has also been declared canine non grata), that Bill had declared he was getting the dog neutered and microchipped. So maybe my tirade penetrated his thick, macho skull.
Lost pets seem to find me a lot (witness Charlie the Pomeranian.) Have you had any lost pet adventures?
Poor Patch. I was almost hoping that you would give him a safe, loving home.
ReplyDeleteOur lost pet adventure... Greg saw a man and young boy walking in front of our home and then to the side. Following the man and boy were two lab dogs (one as an adult lab and the other was a pup).
Greg opened the garage door to do some work in the backyard and the 2 dogs went running into our backyard! Greg called out to the man about the dogs and the man replied, "You can have them. They aren't mine. They've been following us!"
It was starting to get dark and people were coming home from work, so we figured the owners would be out looking. We put a sign with flashing lights on it, "Found 2 Dogs" We didn't describe them, so that when someone came to the door, we could ask them to describe the dogs and know it was the real owner.
About an hour later, relieved owner and two happy dogs were reunited!
Just yesterday I called a guy who'd been by the dog run with fliers for his missing chihuahua -- on our morning walk, my friend saw some smallish, light-colored, doglike critter running by the reservoir. I didn't have my glasses on so I couldn't see it, but it's the same area where the dog (Chanel!) disappeared, so I called the owner and suggested he go out in the early morning before sunrise, which is when we were there, and call her.
ReplyDeleteAnd then of course I get all teary imagining Dorrie lost and alone and scared. Not that she's a roamer at all, but still. Awful thought.
Way to Go! Geez, someone had to tell that *sshole to get his dog taken care of and geez, KICKING his dog?! a true Jerk. I'm glad to hear that Patch is getting fixed.
ReplyDeletep.s. Charlie the Pom?! those pictures are GREAT! Poms crack me up in general. I'd never get one though...at least that is what I say now. I never though I'd want a chihuahua-mix dog either!
My hubbo and a couple friends of ours were walking back to the car after a nice dinner out and we saw a "fluffy kitty" in our path on the sidewalk. It was a long-haired chihuahua, older and arthritic and very skinny. But Very Friendly. He "asked" to be picked up as well. We obliged.
We drove to the local pet shelter and waited for a policeman to stop by to open up a drop box. The poor thing was so scared when it heard all the dogs barking in the shelter but it was a good thing we left him there-- the owners picked him up a few days later. He got away after a bath!
The thing that made all this possible? He was microchipped! Plus, he knew his way around the inside of a car so we knew he came from a good home. He even tried to get into my lap, in the driver's seat!
When his owner hadn't picked him up after 3-4 days, my friends and my hubbo and I were thinking, "he was sooo cute and well-mannered...maybe we could adopt him if he didn't get claimed?!" Of course, our dog Fanny looked at us like, ARE YOU CRAZY?! I AM AN ONLY CHILD! :)
Tip o' the hat to you for setting Patch's "guardian" straight! You said the kinds of things I can imagine myself thinking but could never find the nerve to say. Can wimpiness be overcome?
ReplyDeleteI found a scottie dog once, on the street at night. We spent hours trying to figure out where it lived, finally someone recognized it and we brought him home.
ReplyDeleteThe house was totally blazing with lights and music and I had to bang on the door for quite a while to get someone to answer. Finally a very drunk man answered, got the owner (equally drunk) who took in the dog - without a word of thanks!
I swore next time I would keep the dog, but I never did see him again.
The next time I approached what I thought was a lost dog on my street.. turned out to be a pack of coywolves. I don't have great night vision... or survival instincts.
Good for you for telling Patch's owner off! I don't know if I'd have the cojones.
ReplyDeleteA few months ago a boxer mix puppy was hanging around my yard. I leashed him, walked him all over, trying to find the owner. I gave up and called Animal Services, and right after that, ran into a woman who knew who the owner was. She called the owner, I canceled Animal Services, owner came & collected.
Happy, but sad, because I would've loved to have kept him.
Great stories!
ReplyDeleteAleta, glad you were able to find the pup's owner! I couldn't take Patch; his owner would've seen him eventually, and my rule is not to have more dogs than hands.
Oh, poor Chanel! I hope she gets found, Lisa. It's heartbreaking to think of lost pups.
Kimchi, thanks! Charlie sure was cute. How lucky that chihuahua was that you found him!
Pam, I am totally a non-confrontational person usually. I loathe conflict. But sometimes I can get my righteous on. I was PISSED. The dog was endangered and I was inconvenienced all because of someone else's irresponsibility.
Natashya, I wish you'd kept him! Animals belong with people who care about them. I haven't heard of coywolves before, but then we only have coyotes and foxes in Colorado. Only rarely does a lone wolf range this far south. Are coywolves dangerous to people as a rule?
Vicki, you'd be surprised at your cojones if you were mad enough! Glad you found the puppy's owner, even if you did covet him.
Miss B. got lost once and was picked up by a cop. They were waiting in our driveway after we gave up looking for her. I'll never forget the look of her sheepish little face peering out of the backseat of the police car! She looked so guilty.
ReplyDeleteKit - Coywolves are a new epidemic in my region. The coyotes have mated with the wolves and are fearless, smarter and hunting in packs. There had been over 500 animal deaths reported by July and they are being seen on suburban streets. The local zoo lost a flock of sheep (or goats.. I can't remember) and report seeing them circling the perimeter by closing time.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about them when I walked towards the "lost dog" that night. I only slowed down a little when I saw there were two, but I turned around and walked home (frightened) when I saw the third.
I told my husband about them, who assured me that they weren't coyotes - as I had described big, shaggy, German Shepherd type dogs. We knew coyotes were in the area because he had heard the howling but it wasn't until my friend showed me the article the next weekend about the coywolves that I realized that was what I saw.
I am still nervous when I walk at night, even though I think they have moved on - I haven't heard howling in a while. I am especially nervous around parked cars and actually screamed when someones boxer ran up to us in the dark the other night.